The action was called by the Porta a Porta – Casa para Todos movement and took place between 12:30 and 14:00 on 27 July.

Armed with banners, the approximately 30 demonstrators shouted slogans against real estate speculation and the increase in interest rates, demanding “houses to live in”.

In a statement to the Lusa agency, the spokesman for the Porta a Porta - Casa para Todos movement, André Escobar, explained that the Mais Habitação program approved a week ago in parliament, is “clearly insufficient to respond to housing problems."

“They are highly insufficient and we are not the only ones saying that. The finance minister himself, this week, already came to say that more measures were needed. It is surprising that a week after the approval of Mais Habitação, the Government itself comes to say that the measures are insufficient”, he pointed out.

In André Escobar's understanding, the Government will have to "touch the bank's profits" so that house installments and rents can go down.

“Today, this increase in interest rates by the ECB (European Central Bank) is just one more thing. Interest rates increase, installments increase, wages remain stagnant an due to this it is necessary to break the cycle ”, he defended.

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced yesterday a new increase in the three key interest rates by 25 basis points, as in the previous meeting, equaling the highest deposit rate ever.

Present at the protest, young Pedro Fialho, a student displaced from Évora, complained about the difficulties that young people are having to pay rent for a house or a room.

“Displaced students have a very serious problem finding a place to live here in Lisbon. More than half of these students have no bed in a public residence”, he criticised.

Elisabete Glória, a cancer patient, said that the bank decided to increase her mortgage payment, putting her in an “unbearable” situation.

“I have a disability that often means that I cannot go to work. This, of course, is reflected in my wages. However, it is not reflected in terms of interest rates for these patients ”, she pointed out.

Also present at the protest was PCP deputy Bruno Dias, to show solidarity with those who cannot find a house to live in.

“This is a just cause. People have the strength of reason to draw attention to policies and political options that, in fact, respond to this glaring problem that is affecting thousands of people, whether with regard to renting or with regard to the provision of a house we paid to the bank”, he attested.

A source from the Ministry of Housing said that a claim letter was delivered there and that a delegation from the Porta a Porta – Casa para Todos movement was received by the Secretary of State for Housing, Fernanda Rodrigues.

According to the note, the Secretary of State "heard these same claims" and took "good note of them".

“The right to housing is everyone's concern, starting with the Government itself, which values ​​dialogue and recognises the importance of mobilizing civil society”, says the note from the ministry supervised by Marina Gonçalves.