American Marconi Wireless News - Portuguese police clash with housing protesters, arrest 13

Clashes quickly broke out as dozens of officers moved in on an encampment in Lisbon's Rossio Square and a smaller camp in Porto's Dom Joao I Square at around 4:30 am.

Protesters shouted "smells like a dictatorship", while police said some hurled bottles and paint at officers as they tried to take down the tents.

Police said in a statement that six people were arrested in Lisbon and seven in Porto for refusing orders to disperse. It said 13 police were injured in the process, with eight taken to hospital.

In Porto, police said three plain-clothes officers monitoring the protesters were assaulted after being spotted by a group.

An unspecified number of civilians were also injured during the operation, which was carried out "with rigour, balance and respect for citizens' rights", the statement read.

Activist group Acampada Lisboa said more than 30 protesters were injured, including 10 who required hospital treatment, and called a fresh rally in the capital on Sunday afternoon.

The camps had been set up late Saturday after peaceful marches through the two cities against soaring housing costs.

Officers have repeatedly dismantled encampments that have sprung up across Lisbon and Porto in recent weeks.

Protesters want the minority centre-right government to abandon plans to ease evictions and remove rent caps on new leases, warning the measures would push up housing costs and leave tenants more vulnerable.

Portuguese protesters have taken inspiration from a similar movement in neighbouring Spain, where tents have been set up in central Madrid and other cities for weeks.

M.Fischer--AMWN