Law enforcement forces in Portugal have reportedly carried out a forceful operation to dismantle a protest camp in central Lisbon, which was established by citizens demonstrating against the country's severe housing affordability crisis. Dozens of officers, accompanied by police dogs, moved into Rossio Square in the early hours of Sunday.

Authorities had previously issued warnings that tents would be removed and resisters would face disobedience charges. Despite these threats, demonstrators refused to yield after Saturday's large-scale protest march, prompting officers to baton-charge the crowd and make 25 arrests in Lisbon, alongside six additional arrests in the northern city of Porto. The European regime's security apparatus defended the operation as "proportionate," yet local activist coalition Casa para Viver strongly disputed this claim, reporting that dozens of individuals sustained injuries during the crackdown and announcing plans for further demonstrations outside parliament.

Portugal continues to struggle with soaring housing costs, where property prices and new lease rents have allegedly doubled since 2017, severely impacting younger demographics. With the national central bank estimating a shortage of hundreds of thousands of homes, public discontent over economic pressures is visibly mounting across urban centers.

Source: www.aljazeera.com