Seguro Gathers the Council of State at Belém on Social Cohesion as Porto's Housing Camp Sleeps Undisturbed and 13 Detainees Face Judges

President António José Seguro chairs a meeting of the Council of State (Conselho de Estado, the president's top advisory body) at 15:00 today, Monday 2 November, at the Palácio de Belém in Lisbon, with social cohesion as its only stated theme. The Presidency's notice sets the time and place; it meets as housing protest camps that began in Lisbon and Porto on 10 October, according to Lusa, have been cleared by police for a third time, most recently before dawn on Sunday.

It is the second time Seguro has convened the council since taking office, Lusa reports via RTP. He met the ten parties with seats in parliament on the same theme last Thursday, and in Leiria on Friday he said a country cannot move forward if part of its population "does not have access to health care in good time, does not have access to housing". He also accused the parties of trading blame instead of sitting down to find solutions.

Who sits at the table

The council advises the president and is chaired by him; under the Constitution, as the Presidency sets out, its meetings are not public. Members by right of office include the speaker of parliament, the prime minister, the president of the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman and former presidents. According to Lusa via Notícias ao Minuto, the members elected by parliament include the mayors of Lisbon and Porto, Carlos Moedas and Pedro Duarte, whose cities host the two camps, along with Leonor Beleza, André Ventura and Carlos César.

The council cannot pass laws or order the police. What it can do is shape the president's next move, whether that is a public appeal, pressure on the government for urgent housing measures, or scrutiny of the policing, on which Seguro has already demanded a full account from the government and the Ombudsman.

Overnight: tents stay in Porto, detainees go before judges

• Porto. The camp spent Sunday night on Praça D. João I with tents up. Lusa, via Notícias ao Minuto, reports that four PSP officers nearby left at about 02:30 without asking for the tents to come down. Observador counted about ten tents and says a second police car arrived minutes later, leaving two officers watching.
• In court. The 13 people detained on Sunday, seven in Porto and six in Lisbon, go before a judge today for first questioning, according to Lusa: at 10:00 in Porto's Tribunal de Pequena Instância Criminal and at 14:00 at Lisbon's Campus da Justiça. Lusa cites INEM, the emergency medical service, as saying 25 people were treated after Sunday's charges, and reports 13 PSP officers hurt.
• Journalists. The Sindicato dos Jornalistas (the journalists' union) says it will file a complaint against the PSP with the Ombudsman. It says a clearly identified camera operator was assaulted in Porto and a reporter was pushed and obstructed in the Rossio, and it is asking for an inquiry.

What it means for you

The camps' demands, as Lusa lists them, include reversing the new rental law, ending evictions with no rehousing and "truly affordable" rent ceilings. Any housing package that follows today's talks would affect tenants and buyers well beyond the protests. In the meantime, the US Embassy's 1 November security alert tells its citizens to avoid the Rossio and Praça D. João I and to keep an eye on local media. That is sensible advice for anyone with plans near either square this week. The interior minister, meanwhile, faces calls to explain the third clearance in parliament.