Police with dogs and shields break up a Lisbon housing protest camp as the Portuguese government refuses to scrap its rental bill

Officers with dogs, shields and batons moved in at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday to clear a protest encampment in Lisbon's Rossio Square, where over 50 tents had been pitched and hundreds of demonstrators had linked arms around them in a human shield. At the same time, a second encampment in Porto's Dom Joao I square was dismantled. Police commander Iuri Rodrigues issued three warnings before the operation got under way, and protesters now face potential disobedience charges.

The rental bill at the heart of the unrest would streamline the eviction process and remove rent caps on new leases.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has rebuffed demands to drop the bill, though he signalled openness to amendments ahead of a final parliamentary vote expected in the coming weeks.

Socialist Party leader Jose Luis Carneiro accused the government of 'arrogantly imposing its views, sometimes even with authoritarian overtones'.