Bad weather? Camp Lisbon suspends activities in the next two days

A Camped in Lisbon by the right to housing today decided to suspend the planned activities for the next two days, in the face of bad weather forecasts for the entire national territory.

“The necessary security conditions for programming are not met in these two days”, reads in a publication on the social network Instagram.

The organization of the Lisbon Camp is going to use it to “recover energy, strengthen (...) bonds, organize affinity and work groups and continue to think and conspire new ways to build a world” where “household is not a commodity, but a right”.

In the same publication, a call is made to protesters to “protect themselves, avoid unnecessary movements and, whenever possible, stay home”, knowing that “for the vast majority of people who depend on their work to survive, staying at home is not always a possibility”.

Promising to return “to occupy the streets as soon as security conditions permit,” the Lisbon Camp cancels the concentration that was scheduled for today in the neighborhood of Alto de Pina and also the protest called for the site where the Web Summit takes place, in the Park of Nations, on Wednesday.

Continental Portugal is in a state of alert, between 00:00 and 23:59 Wednesday, due to the foreseeable worsening of the state of time, with the arrival of depression Charles, it is expected that Lisbon, Leiria, Setúbal, Beja and Faro will be the most affected regions.

The gravity of the scenario led the government to decide to close non-essential public schools and services in all districts, and the authorities admitted closing bridges and air traffic restrictions.

According to Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), “the occurrence of heavy rain or shower periods, strong wind, with gusts that can reach 120 km/h and, in case of formation of the phenomenon ‘sting jet’ (air current rapidly descending inside an extratropical depression, accelerating towards the surface), exceed 150 km/h”.

At the popular assembly on Monday, the Lisbon Camp decided to remove the tents from Rossio Square and decentralize its struggle.

“ The right by the demonstration is much greater than Rossio ", justified Alessandra, one of the spokespersons of the Campada, in statements to Lusa.

On Friday, the mayor of Lisbon determined, in order, the departure of the Lisbon Camp of Rossio.

Carlos Coins indicated that it should go to Largo S. Domingos, Martim Moniz Square or the Restauradores, after PSP issued an opinion that gave the green light to the installation of the Christmas market in Rossio and considered “that both initiatives [camped and market] are irreconcilable in the same place”.

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

The PSP's work to disperse the camp and remove the tents in Praça D. Pedro IV (Rossio) and in Praça D. João I, in Porto, resulted in dozens of arrests and dozens of wounded, motivating criticism from various quadrants.

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.

The Camp will join the demonstration by the right to housing called for Saturday, promoted by the Platform House to Live.