Pedro Duarte invites Porto Campada to meet on Tuesday

Omayor of Porto, Pedro Duarte, today invited the members of the Camp for Housing in Porto a meeting on Tuesday in order to discuss the possibility of the existence of occasional camps.

In the communication, which Lusa had access to, the mayor of Portuense points out the readiness to meet with “a delegation of participants in the demonstrations on the problem of Housing” and that the meeting may take place at 6:00 p.m. in the Palaces of the Council.

Pedro Duarte reveals, for this meeting, the willingness to address, among other topics, the compatibility of the right to manifestation with the availability of urban spaces (namely in the Christmas period) and the possibility of the existence of occasional camps.

The preparation and possible scheduling of an extended meeting (which may take place at the Rivoli Theatre or other municipal space) on the current situation of access to housing and debate on potential responses is another topic on the agenda of the mayor communicated in the email.

“ The regrettable events that once again took place this morning in the city of Porto, oblige us – everyone – to a path of constructive dialogue that allows us to reconcile the indisputable right to demonstration with civilism and respect for the law that must govern a democratic rule of law”, reads the autarch’s email.

The electronic message ends with the mayor expressing the wish that the encampment members accept the invitation and wait for confirmation.

Since October 10th in protest, asserting itself in struggle for decent housing for all people in Portugal, the movement that gave rise to the camp presents as claims the reversal of the new rental law, the end of demolitions and evictions without alternative housing, a brake on the purchase of housing by real estate funds, the increase in public housing, the recovery of vacant properties for housing purposes and ceilings “truely accessible” to income.

At the same time, the movement has been demanding to meet Pedro Duarte, first in Praça D. João I, the center of all his demonstrations. However, in recent days the process has gained new contours, with the popular assembly approving that the meeting with the mayor takes place at the Municipal Theatre Rivoli, located next to the square.

[News updated at 6:10 p.m.]