03:59Portugal: 'Habitation is not a business'- Thousands rally in Lisbon against housing crisis
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Lisbon to stage a rally against the housing crisis and increasing rents across the country.
Footage filmed on Saturday features protesters marching, chanting, and holding placards reading 'Home to live', 'For the effective end of golden visas and other policies that promote real estate speculation', and 'Stop gentrification speculation', among others.
Rally participant, Ana, a member of the Housing referendum movement, said that 10 per cent of the accommodation in Lisbon is a 'tourist accommodation' and locals 'want this to stop being the case' since they believe that 'houses have to have a social function and cannot be used for tourist accommodation'.
Last year, official records indicated that over 50 per cent of employees in Portugal received a monthly income of less than 1,000 euros ($1,084). The minimum wage set by the government per month is 760 euros.
According to data from Confidencial Imobiliario, Portuguese real estate market intelligence unit which monitors the housing sector, Lisbon, a popular tourist destination, has experienced a surge in rental prices by 65 per cent since 2015, while prices have also soared by 137 per cent over the same period.
03:59Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Lisbon to stage a rally against the housing crisis and increasing rents across the country.
Footage filmed on Saturday features protesters marching, chanting, and holding placards reading 'Home to live', 'For the effective end of golden visas and other policies that promote real estate speculation', and 'Stop gentrification speculation', among others.
Rally participant, Ana, a member of the Housing referendum movement, said that 10 per cent of the accommodation in Lisbon is a 'tourist accommodation' and locals 'want this to stop being the case' since they believe that 'houses have to have a social function and cannot be used for tourist accommodation'.
Last year, official records indicated that over 50 per cent of employees in Portugal received a monthly income of less than 1,000 euros ($1,084). The minimum wage set by the government per month is 760 euros.
According to data from Confidencial Imobiliario, Portuguese real estate market intelligence unit which monitors the housing sector, Lisbon, a popular tourist destination, has experienced a surge in rental prices by 65 per cent since 2015, while prices have also soared by 137 per cent over the same period.