Camp of Porto remains in Praça D. João I despite the bad weather

A Camped in Porto voted for staying tonight in the square of D. João I, where by 9pm were more than 70 tents mounted, despite the forecast of rain, thunder and wind.

Until the decision was made, in a popular assembly, several protesters tried to prevent the square from being flooded by rain, using buckets and mops to clean the pools of water that were piling up, as Lusa noted on the spot.

The 18 districts of mainland Portugal are from today under yellow warning due to rain forecast, sometimes strong and accompanied by thunderstorm, wind and maritime agitation, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

In statements to journalists on the sidelines of the popular assembly, Ana Mendonça, one of the spokespersons of the movement, ensured that the protesters will remain “united and firm” in front of the Municipal Theatre Rivoli to express itself by the right to housing.

About the statements of the mayor of Porto, Pedro Duarte, who in an interview with Jornal de Notícia and TSF said that Praça de D. João I “deserves to be lived by all Portuenses and is not privatizable by a particular group”, Ana Mendonça challenged the mayor to define the question of privatization.

“You need to define the issue of being privatized, since what is happening is a use by the citizens of Porto of a public square, which is what it serves for public purposes,” he said, adding that he does not consider it to be an “ultra-minority” since they have been “for weeks discussing the right to housing”.

The current protests against the housing crisis began in Porto on October 10 and expanded to Lisbon, but have also motivated concentrations in other cities.

The PSP's action to disperse the campgrounds and remove the tents in Rossio, in Lisbon, and in Praça D. João I, in Porto, led to dozens of arrests and caused dozens of wounded, motivating criticism from various quadrants.

The Public Prosecutor has in the meantime asked the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the 1974 rule which states that a demonstration has the time limit at 12:30.

The protesters demand, among other things, the reversal of the new rental law, a stop to housing purchase by real estate funds and “truely accessible” roofs to income.