Attack on properties and Chega party members on day of housing protests across the country, no comment

Deputies of the Chega party were met with protests in Alameda Square and had to have police protection during a rally in defense of housing that is taking place in more than 20 cities. The protests have been peaceful in almost all of the country, but in Lisbon, police were called in twice to intervene in the housing rally: first to escort Chega deputies who were pushed and insulted, and then in response to an attack with hammers and paint on a real estate agency on Lisbon's Almirante Reis street. Rallies were held in 24 cities, with the largest in Lisbon, where tens of thousands of people shouted slogans between Alameda and Rossio.

Deputies from the Chega party were forced to leave the rally. Chega deputies Filipe Melo, Georges''Galveias and Rui Paulo Souza were forced to leave the rally under police guard and under shouts of "fascism never again". On the spot, Observador correspondents witnessed some shoving and physical contact amidst the disorder. Chega deputy Rui Paulo Souza disputes the attack, saying that "we are in a free country, if they think we are fascists, that's their problem, we came to defend those who need decent housing with conditions". Also MP Filipe Melo justifies his presence by saying that "housing is everyone's right" and that "this is not the exclusive struggle of the extreme leftist".

The Chega Party: 'The extreme leftist monopolizes the rally'. The deputies gave interviews to journalists already under the protection of the PSP forces, who zoomed them from the rally site from the beginning of the meeting,''which began this evening in Alameda Square. Mariana Mortagua, coordinator of the Bloc of the Left, and Paulo Raimundo, leader of the CPP, are also present at the rally. Mariana Mortagua: "Naturally, Chega will not be safely accepted." The leader of the Left Bloc, who attended the rally in Lisbon, says that "it is natural that an extreme right-wing party that defends real estate speculation will not be safely received at a rally in defense of the right to housing." Mariana Mortagua even says it is "very reasonable" and "expected" the reaction of the protesters to Chega, which she calls "an extreme right-wing party that defends real estate and golden visas." The blockade leader also criticizes the PS, saying that "the absolute majority has rejected all measures that have a practical effect on the''the right to housing', accusing the Socialists of joining 'the right-wing side that defends speculation'. She also says that "in the absolute majority there is only one way to put pressure on the government: popular mobilization." According to Mortagua, the More Housing program has never been enough and says that "Portugal is not an offshore for rich foreigners to buy their homes. "

More than 20 cities will today be the site of protests against the housing crisis, organized under the platform "Housing for Life, Planet for Habitat", which brings together more than a hundred associations and collectives. Bloc of the Left: "Naturally, the extreme right party will not be accepted". Paulo Raimundo: "Chega has already been fed enough". CPP leader''Paulo Raymundo suggests that the Chega party deputies did their best to provoke a situation that forced them to leave the rally in defense of housing. 'They came with a specific goal in mind and unfortunately they achieved it. The news is done," the communist leader said. Raimundu also says that "this event in itself has already fed Chega more than enough." He does not hide the "joy" of the large mobilization at the rally. The protests, according to the communist leader, are led by people who have faced "deep personal deprivation" and who "can no longer cope with the rents." The CPP general secretary also denounces the "scandal" that they are all "squeezed in a vise" and that banks have "profits of 11 million euros a day." Paulo Raimundu says,''that the rally in April "forced the government to take measures, but they were insufficient", which also causes "disappointment".

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The Communist leader also recalls the CPP's proposal to limit rent increases to 0.43%. CPP: "People can't take it anymore". Protesters without a party or housing who criticize the attack on the real estate agency. Near one of the tents on Avenida Almirante Reis, two protesters came out of the protest center to talk to a homeless man living in a tent. "It was to make people camp out, not to live in them," said Sandra Trindade, a social worker who lives in Lisbon. She has her own place to live, but says the payments have gotten so high that they have become "unaffordable" for someone with a salary''about 700 euros. Sandra, along with her professional colleague Ana Cristina, who is 52, had to leave the house and move to live in a room for which she pays 300 euros. Both protesters are non-party members and say they are calling for dignity in wages to be able to pay for a place to live. They are sure they disagree with some of the posters calling for the "death of the rich" and believe that acts of vandalism, such as the one that occurred at the estate agency, a little lower down, "don't make sense" during a peaceful protest. Diogo Faro: "The violence of smashing a shop window cannot be compared to living in a tent." Asked about the vandalism of a real estate agency on Avenida Almirante Reis, Diogo Faro, one of the faces of the housing protest,''argues that a violent act such as the one committed is not his "modus operandi". However, he treats its seriousness with relativity: 'The violence of smashing a shop window cannot be compared to living in a tent'. "But in terms of the voices that arise against it, frankly, I don't care," he says that "if the act detracts from the protest, it's the fault of those who are paying attention." And adds: "Imagine 50,000 people are here and there was a group of five people who smashed a shop window. I hope the media and journalists will pay attention to the other 49,995 people who are peacefully demanding their rights." An activist from the civil movement "Housing is a Right" added that more protesters are expected at the rally than at the''s rally, which was held in April under the same slogan. "We are much bigger than those who want a better country, fairer and not living on the profits of a small minority that suppresses the rights of the majority," he said. "Costa, rise up, it's good for the parasites." Among the protest posters, some with direct messages to the local government and the government of Antonio Costa stand out. In relation to World Youth Day, which Lisbon hosted two months ago, the criticism reads, "We host pilgrims, evict tenants." "Costa, get up, this rotten package is only good for vermin," reads another protest poster, referring to the government's More Housing Package. It was also not without criticism of those who rent out accommodation. The protesters argue that,'''that "landlordism is not a profession". Another poster from the housing for life movement says: 'Landlords are weird'.