Portugal sees protests over cost of living and housing crisis as demonstrations sweep Europe

As part of a series of cost-of-living protests that swept across Europe, Portugal also saw many people take to the streets across the country to demonstrate against the deepening cost of living and housing crisis. In Lisbon, thousands gathered in Rossio, one of the most iconic squares of the Portuguese capital. Many of them had tents and set up a camp in the square. The Lisbon protest follows a similar one in Porto earlier in the week, where many had set up tents that were eventually removed by the city council. The society as we know it is collapsing, in the sense that our generation, unfortunately, having a decent salary, a decent average salary, cannot have a life or prospect a life of the future, namely being able to buy a house, or being able to create a life, to have a family, etc, etc, etc. Costs of living protests also took place in France, Belgium and Italy on Saturday. In France, mass demonstrations drew more than half a million participants. Police detained a record number of 855 people. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protests in Belgium. Clashes between demonstrators and police led to 10 arrests. Also in Italy, protests escalated into confrontations. With the most intense tensions reported in Milan, demonstrations also took place in Turin and Bologna.