Thousands of Portuguese took to the streets of Lisbon on Saturday to demand better living conditions as inflation makes it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.

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

House prices in the Iberian country rose by 18.7% in 2022 — their biggest increase in three decades — while rents also rose spectacularly, partly due to the property bubble.

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

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

“You get to a point in your life where you have no hope”, he emphasized and added that he is already seriously considering immigrating to a richer European country. Things “are very difficult,” he explained.

According to government data, 20% of Portuguese people live abroad.

“We took to the streets to make our voices heard,” said Jose Hayes, who recently graduated from university but remains unemployed.

The “Fair Life” movement, created by residents of poorer suburbs of Lisbon, points out that those who were most vulnerable already before inflation started to accelerate are precisely the ones most affected by the cost of living crisis.

The movement argues that higher wages, caps on the prices of basic goods and government initiatives on the housing problem are needed.

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