PSD and Arrivo accuse the left of causing the crisis in housing with immigration policies, while PS and Livre point to government and Aquira measures as responsible.
© PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images
21/10/2026
by
Lusa
PSD and Arrivo today attributed to the “open doors” socialist policies to immigration the responsibility for the housing crisis, while PS and Free blamed the overheating measures of the market taken by the government and supported by the Enough.
The urgency debate proposed by the Free on “emergency in housing” was marked by a number of tough political clashes. The first of them between the co-voice of the party Jorge Pinto and the president of the Aquista, André Ventura; then, among the parliamentary leaders of the PSD and the PS, respectively Hugo Soares and Eurico Brilliant Dias.
Jorge Pinto made a reference to the opposition moved by the president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-White, to the scheduling of this urgent debate proposed by the Free, alleging violation of regimental principles.
“ What the Assembly of the Republic has to do is to be the voice of those who ask us in the streets for solutions to their real and concrete problems”, said Jorge Pinto, in a counterpoint, in an intervention in which he accused Enough of having been “stretched” by the Portuguese, after signing an agreement with the PSD for the review of the rental law.
“From the government and the PSD we saw a bellicose speech, almost a provocation to those who peacefully – and always peacefully – were in the streets of Porto and Lisbon. We saw an IL attitude to despise these demonstrators and, worse, we saw the supreme hypocrisy of the Enough, which now says that, after all, solutions are needed for housing”, he said.
The response of the president of the Aquida was violent: “There is no greater hypocrisy than the Free talking about housing, when in this very Assembly of the Republic voted against the reduction of construction VAT”.
According to André Ventura, “Free does not want any solution for housing, he wants to occupy other people’s houses”.
“ Because of Free, PCP, Left Block and PS entered Portugal 1.5 million people in recent years. Explain to us how in a country of 10 million inhabitants you let all these people in,” he said.
Shortly thereafter, the chairman of the PSD Parliamentary Group accused the socialist governments of being at the root of the crisis in access to housing following their policies of “open doors to immigration”.
“The urgency of the Free in this debate is exactly the same as the urgency of the PS, PCP and BE. In the last eight years of socialist governance, with the collusion of the left, when the causes of the difficulties of access to housing were exacerbated, there was no demonstration. Where were the Members of the left at that time?” he questioned.
Hugo Soares left more questions: “Is there anyone who thinks the housing problem in Portugal was born today? Does any Portuguese think that houses are missing in Portugal and this has nothing to do with the million people that the PS has let into Portugal with the applause of the left?”.
In the end, he also criticized the way some journalists have covered the “camps” in Lisbon and Porto. Then he told the following episode:
“ I was very surprised today when I saw a Portuguese citizen coming to the demonstrations collecting posters that were poorly displayed, misplaced in our heritage. And the concern of the journalists was to know if that gentleman, with civic behavior, has power over any party. Have any journalists ever asked the protesters which party is sane? ", questioned.
In response to Hugo Soares, the chairman of the PS Parliamentary Group accused PSD and CDS of wanting to avoid a debate on the current housing crisis.
The housing crisis, according to Eurico Brilhante Dias, is “the result of the governance of PSD, CDS, IL in coalition with Enough”.
“ When it was necessary to vote on moderate rents of 2300 euros, PSD, IL, Aquira and CDS together made them possible with tax benefits for landlords. When it was necessary to stop the gold visas that increased the price of houses in Portugal, PSD, Aquida, IL and CDS, together, created more difficulties for the Portuguese. When today we have a law of rent, which is a law of evictions, once again, PSD, Aquiza, IL and CDS joined”, opposed.
The head of the ER bench later refused the idea that the housing crisis is associated with immigration.
“ The open door talk doesn't stick. If the doors were wide open in 2024, when the PS ruled, the truth is that the growth of the price of dwellings increased further 2025 and 2026. If the immigrants were all here, how do the right-wing masters say they are the open doors ", sustained.