The number of tents at a housing protest in Porto rose rapidly after midnight, with 14 set up in Praça D. João I within minutes, according to a report from the square. The protest movement had decided at a popular assembly to resume camping there that night.
A group of demonstrators arrived shortly after midnight with tents, sleeping bags and supplies, and quickly began setting them up. The crowd grew slightly as they arrived, though it remained in the dozens. Some tents were still empty when the report was made.
Police were not stationed in the square at the time. A police car had left several hours earlier, and officers were passing through less often than on previous nights, the report said.
The movement also welcomed Porto Mayor Pedro Duarte’s willingness to hold a public meeting, but said the conditions for such a meeting were not yet in place. Activists have set out four demands, including supported rents in all municipal homes, changes to eligibility rules for social housing, measures to bring more than 20,000 identified vacant properties onto the market, and a ban on new short-term rental licences in residential properties, alongside the cancellation of existing ones.
Sources: Observador.