Demonstrations
have been taken place and are expected to continue in Lisbon and Porto over the
soaring price and availability of housing.
Thousands of
protesters have been demanding more affordable housing to buy or to rent. Their
demonstrations led dozens of police officers to move in with batons or police
dogs on Sunday morning and break up tented protest camps in central Lisbon. This
resulted in 25 arrests and several injuries.
As confrontations
with the police turned violent, protesters chanted, “it smells like a dictatorship.”
Other major
protests are taking place in France, Albania, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece and
Serbia.
The Portuguese
government has launched
a 35 million
euro fast-track fund to encourage more young people into leaving urban areas
and going into the countryside to take up farming.
Disillusionment
with the shortage of well-paid jobs in urban areas and the spiralling costs of
living are making farming a more attractive option.
The
nation’s farming workforce is heavily aging. More than 50% are over the age of
65. Thus, the increasing need for
youthful replacements.
The shortage
of quality employment especially in the major cities of Lisbon and Porto are
pushing young professionals aged between 18 and 40 back to the countryside.
More are
being urged to do likewise as the new emergency fund aims to set up at least
200 new young farmers with a minimum of beau racy and little delay.
However,
there are serious difficulties. The biggest obstacle for young newcomers is that
land prices are extremely high with limited availability. Farmland in Portugal has always been
fragmented compared with more northerly countries in Europe.
Funding
help for hopeful young farmers is crucial if they are to economically survive
on the land.
