Portuguese police clear housing camps and arrest 31 people
Police cleared housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto early on Sunday, arresting 31 people. Officers said protesters had ignored repeated dispersal orders; organisers called the force used disproportionate. Police and campaigners reported different injury totals. The overnight operation followed peaceful demonstrations demanding action over Portugal’s housing crisis and removed 171 tents and other structures.
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Police remove the camps in both cities
Portuguese police cleared housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto early on Sunday, October 25. The operation followed peaceful demonstrations about housing costs. Officers dismantled the encampments in Rossio square in Portugal’s capital and Praça D. João I in Porto.[1], [2]
31 people were arrested: 25 in Lisbon and six in Porto. They were released on Sunday and were due in court the following day. Police said the gatherings should have ended after midnight and that repeated orders to disperse had been ignored.[1]
Organisers challenge the use of force
João Veloso, spokesman for Lisbon’s Acampada housing-camp movement, called the response disproportionate. He disputed claims that detainees had been resisting and alleged some were arrested while sleeping. The movement also alleged that officers used dogs and rubber bullets while pursuing protesters after the clearance.[1]
Police put the injury count at 11. Organisers gave higher figures, reporting 37 injured in Porto and more than 20 people taken to hospital in Lisbon, with others treated at the scene. The accounts differ over the scale and consequences of the intervention.[1]
Police defend dispersal orders and seize 171 structures
Sérgio Soares, spokesman for Portugal’s Public Security Police, said officers had attempted dialogue and mediation for more than two hours. He said noncompliance required a more forceful intervention. Police cited both the permitted duration of the gatherings and camping structures lacking authorisation.[1]
Officers seized 171 tents and camping structures, comprising 117 in Lisbon and 54 in Porto. Police also reported taking a pyrotechnic device and paint cans from a person arrested in Porto. Soares said paint cans had been thrown at officers there.[1]
