Housing Crisis Fuels Protests in Portugal as Support Programs Face Cuts
A growing citizens’ movement is demanding action over Portugal’s housing crisis, staging protests in Lisbon and Porto to highlight the severe lack of resources available to those seeking financial assistance with rent and utilities. Demonstrators are calling for a global right to decent housing and criticizing the government’s handling of vital income support programs.
Dozens have gathered outside the Instituto da Habitação e Reabilitação Urbana (IRHU) in lisbon since dawn,vying for one of only 20 daily service tickets. The protests, occurring between 7:30 am and 9:30 am, aim to pressure officials to improve responsiveness to requests for income support, with letters planned for delivery to the secretary of State for Housing and the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing.
The core of the issue, according to Porta a Porta Movement spokesperson André Escoval, is the abrupt termination of a national income support program affecting tens of thousands of citizens. “The Government moved forward with the special income support program, which is a national program, and which in recent months was suddenly cut off to tens of thousands of people across the country,” Escoval stated to RTP.
Escoval further emphasized the inadequacy of current support channels. He reports that online and telephone services are effectively non-existent,leaving in-person assistance as the only option. However, even this is severely limited. “There are only two services in the entire country for a problem that is national,” he said, referring to the IRHU offices in Lisbon and Porto.
The movement is also raising concerns about insufficient funding for the IRHU, particularly as the State Budget for 2026 begins its parliamentary review this Tuesday. “We need investment and we need a public housing institute with resources and resources,” Escoval asserted.
The human cost of these cuts is starkly illustrated by the experiences of individuals like Rosa Soares in Porto. Having been unemployed for two months, Soares receives a minimum income of €247, while her rent totals €273.13. She had previously received €190.9 in support until September. “More water, more light, more medication… I can’t survive without this help,” Soares told RTP, encapsulating the desperation felt by many.
Movimento Porta a Porta‘s Raquel Ferreira explained to RTP that the protests are designed to “give visibility” to the IRHU’s resource constraints and its inability to adequately address the population’s needs. The movement hopes to force a reevaluation of housing policy and increased investment in social support programs.
The situation underscores a growing crisis in Portugal, where affordable housing is increasingly scarce and vulnerable populations are left struggling to meet basic needs. The protests represent a significant challenge to the government, demanding immediate and significant action to address the widening gap between income and the cost of living.
