Tens of thousands march across Portugal over housing costs

Tens of thousands of people marched through more than 30 Portuguese cities and towns on Saturday in the largest protest yet against housing costs that demonstrators say have put buying or renting a home beyond ordinary incomes.

The marches were held under the slogan "We won't let them steal our right to housing". In Lisbon, drums, chants, large banners and flags accompanied a crowd that ranged from teenagers to retirees.

House prices have climbed far faster than wages. Between 2015 and 2025, Portugal recorded the largest increase in the European Union in the ratio of home prices to income, a rise of 61 percent, ahead of the Netherlands at 34 percent, the EU statistics office Eurostat reported last week. The National Statistics Institute said last month that prices rose by almost 20 percent between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Rents have gone up 68 percent since 2020, according to the government.

Foreign buyers and investment funds have pushed prices higher by purchasing Portuguese property. The country's mild climate and long coastline have drawn digital nomads, other remote workers and retirees, and a surge in tourism has turned many city-centre flats into short-term rentals.

The government has lowered taxes on new construction, restricted short-term lets and promised to build 145,000 homes. It acknowledges the effects will not be immediate.

President António José Seguro, whose role is largely ceremonial but carries political weight, convened the Council of State, an advisory body, to discuss the protests earlier this month and met some of the marchers on Friday.

The demonstrations have run for weeks. Activists have camped in central squares in Lisbon and Porto, the country's two largest cities, and riot police with dogs have dispersed some gatherings, drawing accusations of heavy-handed tactics.

Protesters want ceilings on rent increases, stronger legal protection for tenants facing eviction and more affordable housing. Organisers took inspiration from protests in neighbouring Spain last month over similar housing concerns, in an autumn of social unrest across Europe.

Susana Pacheco, 35, a data analyst who works part-time as an astrologer to help pay her mortgage, said she worried about whether her younger sister could afford to leave their parents' home. "I'm really worried about young people," she said. "I don't know how they're going to be able to pay" for a home of their own.

Ana Encarnação, 42, said things had become intolerable, pointing to living costs and the widening gap between rich and poor.