Tens of thousands march in Lisbon over housing, cost of living crisis

Tens of thousands of people marched through central Lisbon on Saturday to protest against soaring living costs and a deepening housing crisis in Portugal,

increasing pressure on the centre-right government.



Portugal's biggest union, CGTP, which called the rally, said "many tens of thousands" packed one of the capital's main avenues. Police gave no crowd estimate.



Protesters say low wages are failing to keep pace with housing costs and the rising cost of living, leaving many people struggling to make ends meet in the European Union and NATO member state.



The demonstration followed days of growing unrest, including a tent camp set up by housing activists in the northern city of Porto that police cleared in a pre-dawn operation on Monday.



It coincides with protests in France against rising costs and declining public services, and smaller protests in Belgium. There are also mass protests in Albania, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.