Portugal sees fresh protests over government policies seen as worsening housing crisis

Under the slogan "they will not steal our right to live here," thousands gathered for nationwide demonstrations across Portugal on Saturday to protest the rising cost of housing and stagnating incomes.Demonstrators took to the streets of Lisbon and dozens of other cities calling for limits on rent increases, stronger protection from evictions, more public housing and measures to curb housing speculation."We need homes to live in, not homes to speculate on. Public housing needs to be built and the price of rents needs to come down," Raquel Ferreira from the housing-rights movement 'Casa Para Viver' told local media at the start of the demonstration in Porto.The protests come as the government adopted a new bill that would make it easier and faster for property owners to evict tenants."What should happen, and what this massive mobilisation across the country is demanding, is the withdrawal of this draft law," said José Manuel Pureza, coordinator of the Left Bloc.The new housing bill includes measures that could further exacerbate the housing crisisThe proposed legislation seeks to make it easier for landlords to regain possession of rented properties by speeding up the procedure for property-owners to evict tenants.It would also give landlords greater freedom to set rental prices by removing rent caps, allow them to demand higher upfront payments such as deposits and advance rent…