Tens of thousands march in Lisbon over housing and living costs

By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira

LISBON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through central Lisbon on Saturday to protest against soaring living costs and a deepening housing crisis in Portugal, increasing pressure on the centre-right government.

Portugal's biggest union, CGTP, which called the rally, said "many tens of thousands" packed one of the capital's main avenues. Police gave no crowd estimate.

Protesters say low wages are failing to keep pace with housing costs and the rising cost of living, leaving many people struggling to make ends meet in the European Union and NATO member state.

The demonstration followed days of growing unrest, including a tent camp set up by housing activists in the northern city of Porto that police cleared in a pre-dawn operation on Monday.

It coincides with protests in France against rising costs and declining public services, and smaller protests in Belgium. There are also mass protests in Albania, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Portugal's inflation hit 3.6% in September, driven by rising food and fuel prices, the latter up 15% year-on-year following an increase in tensions in the Middle East.

House prices have more than doubled since 2017, while rents for new leases have nearly doubled, fuelling one of Europe's worst housing affordability crises.

The squeeze is most acute in major cities.

PROTESTERS' CONCERNS

Carolina Cruz, 26, a PhD student and biology researcher earning about €1,300 ($1,460) a month on a scholarship, faces losing her home as her rental contract nears expiry.

She and her partner pay €716 monthly for an apartment in the Lisbon area, but renewal could push the rent above €1,200 — far beyond their means.

"I'm the first person in my family to enter a doctoral programme, and even with all the studying I've done, I still can't make it... Right now, housing in Lisbon is the problem," Cruz said.

Pedro Penilo, 62, a teacher, said Portugal's leaders were "out of touch with reality."

"Life is incredibly expensive… it's going up brutally. I need to see how my mortgage is going to turn out in the coming months, when it's adjusted. I'm very worried," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Carlos Abreu Amorim said on Friday the "government will not yield to shouts from the street" and that concrete measures to address the concerns were already being rolled out.

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