Housing Camps Agree to Meet Seguro and Vote to Retake the Rossio Tonight, as the Council of State's Statement Leaves the Protests Out
Lisbon's housing camp voted 163 to 6 to pitch tents on the Rossio again on Tuesday and to meet President Seguro. Porto protesters raised 14 tents after 00:30. The Council of State's official note made no mention of the protests.
The housing protesters camped in Lisbon voted on Monday night to put their tents back up on the Rossio this Tuesday, 3 November, and to accept a meeting with President António José Seguro. In Porto, protesters pitched 14 tents on Praça D. João I after the 00:30 cut-off. Hours earlier, the Council of State met at Belém, and its official statement made no reference to the camps or the police clearances.
A five-hour meeting, a short statement
The note published by the Presidency says the counsellors were heard on how to strengthen "social cohesion" as a condition for tackling the country's structural problems, naming inequality, regional cohesion and access to housing, education and health. It does not mention the protests, the camps or the police.
According to an Observador radio bulletin, the meeting lasted about five hours and 15 of the 19 counsellors attended. Observador reported that former President Aníbal Cavaco Silva defended the Government inside the room, warning that radical-left groups were exploiting the protests politically and that weak handling of them could undermine the authority of the State. The official note does not record what individual counsellors said.
Lisbon: back on the Rossio tonight, and a meeting with Seguro
The camp's 17th assembleia popular (the open nightly meeting where it takes its decisions) approved the return to the Rossio by 163 votes to 6, with several abstentions, Lusa reported via Notícias ao Minuto. It follows the administrative court's ruling letting one protester, Renata Cambra, keep a tent there until 24 November.
Observador reported that the assembly agreed to meet the President after his office, the Casa Civil, said it was available to receive representatives of the Lisbon and Porto camps. A working group will prepare the meeting; no date has been set. The assembly also voted to visit the Pátio da Quintinha in Beato on Thursday, where a court has told residents to prove their right to occupy their homes or leave, and to stay on the square although the Christmas market was due to start going up there on Tuesday.
No full camp went up in Lisbon overnight: Cambra pitched her tent shortly after 23:45 and left at about 01:50, and the tents were then taken down, Observador said.
Porto: tents up after 00:30, and claims about police
At 00:30 only one tent stood on Praça D. João I, beside a cardboard house. At about 00:40 more protesters arrived with another 13 tents, according to Lusa.
Ricardo Salazar, a lawyer advising the Porto camp, told Lusa the organisers had received reports that plain-clothes officers were stopping people leaving the square, taking some to a police station and showing them photographs to identify protesters. He said that, if true, it was "very serious". The PSP's response was not reported.
The Porto camp has also published four demands for Mayor Pedro Duarte:
- all municipal housing let at renda apoiada, a rent set as a share of household income;
- a review of the access rules for the social housing list, which the camp says break the law;
- using planning powers, including higher IMI property tax and compulsory works or leasing, to bring empty homes back into use;
- banning, and revoking, short-term rental (Alojamento Local) licences in homes.
The council had invited the group to a meeting at the city hall on Tuesday; the camp turned it down in Sunday's vote, Lusa reported.
What it means for you
Expect protest gatherings on the Rossio from Tuesday evening while the Christmas market goes up. For background, see our report on the court ruling on the Rossio tent and our preview of the Council of State.
