Rossio Housing Protesters Stay One More Night Despite Move Order
Housing protesters in Lisbon's Rossio voted to stay one more night despite an order to make way for the Christmas Market. What they want and what's next.
The right-to-housing protesters camped in Rossio since last month voted overnight to stay one more night, deferring their decision on whether to leave the square so the city’s traditional Christmas Market can be set up. Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas has ordered the camp to move and offered three alternative sites.
If the camp refuses to relocate, it faces renewed police pressure and, eventually, removal from Rossio, according to Portugal Resident, which cited the news agency Lusa and the newspaper Diário de Notícias.
A split vote inside the camp
Renata Cambra, an activist and founder of the group Workers United, proposed that the camp follow the mayor’s order, since the alternative was forcible removal. Her own tent had been protected by a decision of the Lisbon Administrative Court, a ruling that is already being challenged.
Her proposal did not win consensus at the protesters’ Popular Assembly, Lusa reported. After a long discussion, the question went to a smaller plenary of delegates who run the encampment, and they chose to hold out for one more night.
Cambra argued that moving to one of the sites Moedas proposed would let the protesters take control of the narrative. Others in the camp pointed to fatigue and to rain forecast for much of the coming week.
The likeliest outcome: a move until the budget vote
Portugal Resident expects the protesters to pack up their tents and makeshift canteens and move to one of the three proposed locations. They would stay there until Nov. 24, when parliament is due to hold its final vote on the State Budget.
Why the protesters say they are there
Authorities have described the camp as the work of revolutionaries and left-wing troublemakers, but many of those sleeping on the square’s paving stones are ordinary residents willing to explain their reasons to reporters.
One of them, Catarina, a 27-year-old freelancer in the audiovisual sector, told Diário de Notícias that her parents, both earning the minimum wage, bought a three-bedroom apartment in Lisbon in 2001 for €83,000. She also earns the minimum wage, she said, but faces house prices of €300-€400,000 and would need to raise a down payment. She said she has colleagues aged 60 who live in a single room and cook on a camping stove.
She called the housing problem a “challenge of our times” rather than one limited to young people. According to DN, she believes the camp will start to disperse if the government adopts the measures it is demanding, including repeal of the new urban rental law. Until the government opens a dialogue, she said, “we will stay here.”
What it means for Lisbon residents
Rossio is where the city sets up its traditional Christmas Market, so the standoff decides when the square is free for it. For tenants and buyers, the protest keeps rents and house prices in the spotlight as parliament moves toward the Nov. 24 budget vote.
If the camp stays, the mayor’s order points to police action and removal from the square. If it moves, the protest would continue at one of the three sites the city has offered.
Source: Portugal Resident
