“The number increased significantly and was transversal, from Portuguese to foreigners, from young people to the elderly. This year alone we registered around 25% more, essentially due to the worsening of living conditions, immigration and the increase in drug consumption”, Renata Alves, general director of Comunidade Vida e Paz, told Expresso.

“In Lisbon, you have never seen so many tents. And the phenomenon of homelessness has changed. Before, they were essentially men with mental health or addiction problems. Now the profile is very varied. And there are entire families without a home”, confirms Rita Valadas.

“We should all admit that we failed. Millions of euros are spent and people remain on the street or in a revolving door dependent on charity. There are more than ten thousand homeless people and the PRR doesn't have a penny to give them a home. The only money there is is for emergency and temporary responses. We continue to fail to resolve the problem”, criticises Américo Nave, director of Associação Crescer.

According to Renata Alves, from Comunidade Vida e Paz, the answers that exist are not enough for all the people currently living on the streets. “The centers are full. We have a unit for 40 people that is always full. And the institutions are going through many difficulties due to rising costs, lack of support and falling donations.”

“The situation is very aggressive. The responses were not scaled for a problem of this magnitude”, confirms Rita Valadas.

Last Tuesday, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for new approaches and models of action to combat poverty, claiming that the country cannot accept almost two million poor people.

In the message published on the Presidency's website, the head of State highlights the “positive steps” in identifying the causes, diagnosing the problems and advancing a National Strategy to Combat Poverty published in 2021, with “the ambition to achieve until 2030”, but highlights that “more is needed than isolated measures or support which, without proper monitoring and evaluation, will never be considered strategic”.

“It is, therefore, important that this date serves to reinforce the alert regarding the new realities that have worsened poverty conditions, requiring new approaches and models of action to combat them”, warns the President of the Republic.