Faro and Portimão join the national fight for the right to housing
With the continued worsening of the housing crisis in Portugal, the Porta a Porta movement is promoting, on the 28th and 29th of June, a Weekend of Struggle for the Right to Housing, with actions scheduled for 13 cities from north to south of the country, including Faro and Portimão.
On Saturday, June 28, the gatherings will take place in: Faro, at 10:00 am, next to the Municipal Market and Portimão, at 3:30 pm, on Avenida 25 de Abril (next to the municipal swimming pools).
The initiative follows the release of the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) , which indicates that the average price of housing reached 232 thousand euros in the first quarter of this year - an increase of around 16% compared to the same period in 2024, the highest since records began. In the Lisbon region, the average value is around 381 thousand euros, while in the Algarve it exceeds 336 thousand euros.
For the Porta a Porta movement, these figures confirm an “acceleration in price increases”, driven by public policies that, in their view, favour banks, investment funds and speculators, to the detriment of the population. The movement also criticises the continuation of the measures taken by the previous government, now reinforced by the current executive, accusing it of following a “path towards national catastrophe”.
The Weekend of Struggle for the Right to Housing thus aims to demand that the Government implement the Emergency Housing Demands List presented by the Casa para Viver Platform, which advocates measures such as: lowering rents, regulating and setting prices; a minimum term of 10 years for rental contracts (new and current); an end to all forms of evictions; a maximum of 35% of family income for housing loans, mobilizing bank profits to support price increases; mobilizing all empty houses for rent (excluding homes owned by emigrants and second homes); prohibiting new licenses for all types of tourist accommodation in areas under pressure and housing shortages, with an immediate review of current licenses and their mobilization for long-term rentals at regulated prices; an immediate end to tax benefits that facilitate real estate speculation; support for communities so that they can maintain their spaces within the city; increased monitoring and criminalization of illegal leases, ensuring a fair transition for tenants from informal to legal contracts, while maintaining the same housing space; increase in the public housing stock; new construction only with obligations to create housing at regulated and affordable prices; and encouragement of the formation of housing cooperatives based on principles of collective ownership, prohibiting their alienation and privatization for the liberalized market.
In addition to Faro and Portimão, the cities of Lisbon, Setúbal, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Beja, Viana do Castelo, Covilhã, Elvas and Viseu will also have demonstrations throughout this weekend, reinforcing the fight for the right to housing throughout the country.
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