Housing rights protesters have condemned a violent police operation carried out early Thursday morning to evict campers from Praça D. João I in central Porto, Portugal.
The most intense confrontations reportedly took place around 03:00, when police moved to break up the demonstration. The Housing Movement condemned the intervention as “disproportionate and unjustified”.
In a statement, the movement strongly denounced the use of extreme, disproportionate and unjustified force during the police operation at the camp, which it said remained peaceful from the start and never provoked violence. It added that 37 people were injured, two of whom suffered fractures.
A more forceful intervention was necessary
Leonor Figueiredo, a movement representative, told CNN Portugal on Thursday morning that the protest had been peaceful and that there was therefore no justification for the police action.
Figueiredo added, “Pedro Duarte said he was going to be ruthless and now we have seen it, we have understood the message,” referring to remarks made on Wednesday by Porto’s mayor, who had vowed to ban any camping in the city.
A source at the Porto Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police (PSP) confirmed to Euronews that “a more forceful intervention was necessary” at the site, but said it was too early to provide further details, including the number of injured, and promised more information later.
Police also confirmed that the protest had been completely dispersed and that “nothing further remains” at the scene.
Demonstrators had occupied the square since Saturday, many sleeping outdoors after the city council had removed the initial protest tents.
Human chain ‘brutally harassed’
On Wednesday, after a public assembly, they decided to continue protesting over the housing crisis and to re‑erect tents overnight.
Pedro Manuel, a movement spokesperson, told CNN Portugal that the first eviction attempt took place at around 02:00, using cleaning vehicles to disperse the occupants. He maintained that there had been no confrontation with the authorities.
“We formed a peaceful human chain to prevent them from taking away our tents. They waited until the media had left and then drove away in their vehicles,” the spokesperson said.
“At around 03:00 they returned, and we formed a human chain again, peacefully, to defend our right to protest and keep the tents,” the demonstrator said.
According to Pedro Manuel, it was at that point that police began “harassing protesters with brutality”, an operation he described as “criminal”.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency on Thursday, the spokesperson insisted that the protest was “authorised until the 20th”.
Porto City Council vows to be ‘absolutely ruthless’
Before the police operation, Porto City Council had already warned that it would prevent any form of camping in the city.
“It is obvious that Praça D. João I is not a campsite and will not be turned into one. We will be absolutely ruthless with any attempt to erect tents in that area,” Porto’s mayor said on the sidelines of the Fábrica 2030 conference, as quoted by Lusa.
Pedro Duarte said that the “right to demonstrate is not in question”, but that it “cannot clash with the freedom of everyone else in the city”.
“Portuguese law is very clear and states that demonstrations cannot continue beyond a certain time, generally 12:30 a.m.,” he added.
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