THOUSANDS took to the streets of Portugal on Saturday as they demanded the country’s right-wing government introduce measures to widen access to housing and end the increase in rents and evictions.

The protesters are demanding that the government of Luis Montenegro treat housing as a citizens’ right, not a commodity for landlords to profit from.

Demonstrations, organised by the “House to Live In” campaign, were held in around 15 cities across the country, including the capital Lisbon, under the slogan “Enough is enough.”

Spokesperson for the campaign, Alexandra Melo, said the protest aims to pressure the government to address the housing crisis and curb soaring rental costs.

One of the protesters, Raquel Ferreira, said: “The measures adopted by the government do not benefit those who need housing,” and only “encourage speculation.”

Ms Ferreira said the government urgently needed to put in place policies such as “reducing and regulating rents, building public housing and making vacant properties available to the public.”

She proposed that the government establish a direct communication channel with citizens to address this issue.

Economist Jose Caldeira said on Saturday that the housing crisis represents “the greatest social crisis that the city of Lisbon and the country have ever experienced.”