The CGTP Marches in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon on Poverty Day Against the Cost of Living, as Housing Protesters Plan Camps in Porto and Rossio

Portugal's largest union confederation, the CGTP-IN, holds what it calls a national demonstration today, Saturday 17 October, against the rising cost of living. It falls on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Instead of one march in the capital, the confederation has split it across three cities, and housing movements have called their own protests in Porto, Lisbon and Faro for the same day.

Where and when the CGTP marches

The poster published by the CGTP's unions gives three starting times and routes:

Porto: 10:30, from Praça da Batalha to Praça D. João I.
Coimbra: 10:30, from the Portugal dos Pequenitos roundabout to Praça 8 de Maio.
Lisbon: 14:30, from Cais do Sodré to Rossio.

The slogan is "More pay, better pensions and public services. Against the rising cost of living. A new direction for Portugal". When the CGTP's national council called the protest in September, it demanded pay rises of at least 15 percent in 2027, with a minimum of 150 euros for every worker, and a national minimum wage of 1,100 euros next year. Its women's equality commission ties the march to Poverty Day: it says 1.66 million people in Portugal, or 15.4 percent of the population, were at risk of poverty in 2024, including 8.6 percent of people in work.

The CGTP's general secretary, Tiago Oliveira, told Lusa that the march is for anyone who feels the "brutal rise" in housing, fuel and food prices. He said unions had filed several strike notices so that workers in sectors including commerce, services and entertainment can take part. Separately, culture workers had already been called out on strike today.

Housing protests in Porto, Lisbon and Faro

The CGTP's Porto march ends in Praça D. João I, the square where housing protesters set up camp after the four-city march of 10 October, and where police removed the tents on 12 October. In a statement sent to Lusa, the movement says it will gather there at 12:00 in support of the CGTP and pitch its tents again at 19:00. It lists six demands, including repeal of the rental law, rent caps, an end to evictions, more public housing and the reuse of empty buildings as homes.

According to the same Lusa report, groups in the Algarve have called a gathering in Faro at 17:30 at the Rotunda do Fórum, and a public-sector union holds a march in Funchal from 10:00. In Lisbon, a housing camp inspired by the Porto one has been announced on social media for 17:00 in Praça do Rossio, Notícias ao Minuto reports.

The Porto protests have sharpened since a police charge on the protesters in the early hours of Thursday. The movement says 39 people were hurt; the PSP says protesters resisted and has sent prosecutors a report with CCTV footage, and the interior ministry's inspectorate has opened an inquiry, according to Lusa via DN. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has condemned what he called a direct appeal to violence at a later assembly, Observador reports; a spokesman for the movement said the speaker was not part of the organisation.

Getting around

No official traffic or transport notice tied to the protests had been published by early morning. Expect closures along the routes while the marches pass, and allow extra time around Baixa in Lisbon and the centres of Porto and Coimbra. Separately, Carris has announced that from 08:00 to 20:00 today routes 720, 728, 732, 735, 738, 760 and trams 15E and 18E are diverted or cut short for a sporting event in western Lisbon.