thousands Portuguese they took to its streets Lisbon yesterday Saturday to demand better living conditions as inflation makes it harder to make ends meet.

Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. According to official data, last year more than 50% of employees had incomes below 1,000 euros per month. The minimum wage is 760 euros.

Low wages, high rents

House prices in the Iberian country rose by 18.7% in 2022 – the biggest increase in three decades – while rents also rose significantly, due in part to a housing bubble.

Low wages and high rents mean Lisbon is the third least affordable city in the world to live in, according to an insurance company survey. The situation is aggravated by the fact that inflation in Portugal has reached 8.3%.

At a demonstration organized by the Just Life movement, Vitor David, a 26-year-old property developer, said he would like to return to the Portuguese capital one day, but has to live outside the city because rent is unaffordable.

“You get to the point where you have no hope”

“You reach a point in your life where you have no hope,” he stressed, adding that he was already seriously considering immigrating to a richer European country. Things are “very difficult,” he explained.

According to the government, 20% of Portuguese live abroad.

“We took to the streets to make our voices heard,” said Jose Hayes, a recent graduate but still unemployed.

The Just Life movement, created by residents of Lisbon’s poor suburbs, notes that those who were most vulnerable before inflation began to pick up were the ones most affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

The movement argues that higher wages, capping the prices of essential goods, and government initiatives to address the housing problem are needed.

The Portuguese government last week announced a series of measures to tackle the housing crisis, but social groups say its proposals will have little impact if other initiatives to attract wealthy investors continue, such as the Digital Nomads Visa program announced in October.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}