More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities Saturday to protest against fresh austerity measures recently announced by the centre-right government. Organisers estimated that 50,000 people turned out for the Lisbon protest, with a similar number in the second-largest city of Porto and several thousands in around 30 other cities.
The country's police generally refuse to release numbers. In the capital, protesters clashed with police in front of the parliament, but no one was injured. University students and artists called for the protests on Facebook, but they were also backed by far-left parties and Portugal's biggest union CGTP, which has also called for a large rally at the end of the month. With banners reading "Stop social terrorism" and "Soon the State will steal from the dead," the protesters were up in arms over the latest austerity measures announced a week ago by the government, as it struggles to meet its economic targets.
"This government will kill Portugal, and if we don't do anything, it will be worse," said Ivan Rodriguez, a protester in his thirties in Lisbon, where others banged on drums and clapped their hands to make as much noise as possible. "I'm fighting to preserve my job and those of others," he added.