Demonstration in Lisbon: students ask for more houses and less fees
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Thousands of university students marched through the streets of Lisbon this Thursday, coming from various parts of the country, in protest against the difficulty young adults have in finding an affordable home while studying. Between black cloaks drawn in mourning, carnations in hand and banners alluding to the 25th of April, there was no lack of symbolism in the cries of young people, who demanded that the next Government make problems in student accommodation a priority.
“Students want to know, they want to participate, they know the problems, they point out solutions and they will fight for what they are entitled to. And may the new Government keep this in mind and consider the students’ demands”, stated Mariana Metelo, director of the Student Association of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon (AEFLUL).
The protest took a while to get going, leaving Rossio towards the Assembly of the Republic an hour late. In Chiado, cramped and full of tourists – confused and curious who were searching on their cell phones for the translation of the words of protest -, one could hear the frustration accumulated by the financial difficulties that young people face. But the motto was, above all, the evocation of the 25th of April and the student crisis of March 24, 1962, remembered about a month before the 50th anniversary of the revolution.
“Accommodation is a topic that cuts across all higher education institutions and all students across the country, including these difficulties we experience when searching for and in public residences. Therefore, it becomes even more important to bring students to the fight because it was also students who brought the 25th of April, through the academic crisis”, said Margarida Isaías, president of the Academic Association of the University of Minho (AAUM), to Expresso, in front of the São Bento Palace.
Student demonstration in Lisbon. Photo Ana Baião
Ana Baiao
Almost all academic associations on the continent, from the Algarve to Minho, were present at the protest – the Porto Academic Federation organized its own demonstration.
Renato Daniel, president of the Coimbra Academic Association (AAC), considered that “the timing for calling this demonstration was absolutely perfect”, so that students could exert pressure on the next executive.
“We call for this demonstration so that the next Government places special care for Higher Education at the top of the political agenda. We have established the most qualified generation ever and we believe that it is through this generation that most of the country’s problems can be solved. We speak of a fulfillment of National Plan for Accommodation in Higher Education (PNAES) which is far from being fulfilled, we are far from the promised 18 thousand beds, and it is necessary to get to work and start working so that the ceiling and education are a right for Higher Education students”, he reiterated.
Photo António Bernardo
According to last year’s August report from the Student Accommodation Observatory, prices in student accommodation increased by 10.5% in the space of a year, while supply fell by 14%, but difficulties in accessing affordable rentals are common for students across the country. Eurostat data for the year 2022 shows that Portuguese young people are among those who leave their parents’ house laterwith an average of 29.7 years, almost three years above the European average.
More housing and an end to tuition fees were slogans
Housing was one of the most discussed topics in the campaign for the legislative elections, being one of the biggest problems not only in Portugal, but throughout Europe, and the increase in rents in recent years and the low supply have affected those who, due to studying , have more difficulty paying for a room.
Student demonstration in Lisbon.Photo Ana Baião
Ana Baiao
Throughout the day, we heard several stories of students in overcrowded and deteriorated houses, in tiny rooms with no windows, at prices that were difficult for those without income to pay. Ricardo Costa, 24 years old, is from Viseu and studies in Vila Real, at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. For the student, “tuition fees should, at least, be reduced and there should be a limit on the price of rent, so that houses become more affordable for students.”
“Regardless of where we study, these causes are ours and that is why we come from afar. I pay for a very expensive house, I share a house with nine people and each one pays more than 220 euros,” she said.
From Serra da Estrela, Camila Torgal, vice-president of the Academic Association of the University of Beira Interior (AAUBI) in Covilhã, stressed that “the problems in higher education are transversal” and “in the interior there is also the problem of lack of accommodation, the lack of beds and social action.” Housing and student accommodation “must be a priority, just like the timely payment of scholarships”, she said, leaving a new message for the next Government.
Originally from Porto, Joana Machado highlighted the fight for “public, free, democratic and quality higher education” about a month before the anniversary of the 25th of April, pointing to financial difficulties as one of the obstacles to the growth of young people. “There are many students who are left out of higher education because they cannot pay fees or cannot find housing, there are few canteens, the number is insufficient. And in the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, it is imperative that we fight for what April gave us and what took so much to achieve,” she stated.
The 22-year-old master’s student echoed the calls for an end to tuition fees, saying that, in cases like hers, where “master’s fees do not have a maximum value defined by the State”, they “end up reaching exorbitant values”. “I pay more than 1600 euros and it is very difficult to pay this and finish a master’s degree, which is essential to access the profession”, she lamented.
Student demonstration in Lisbon. Photo Ana Baião
Ana Baiao
Renovation of residences and republics is “urgent”
At the end of the march in Lisbon, with a fado group from Coimbra singing academic saudade in front of the stairs of the Assembly of the Republic, Margarida Isaías alluded to political instability and the process of forming the new Government, and warned that students would not are unaware of the country’s economic situation.
“This political instability that we are experiencing worries us, especially in relation to the issue of accommodation, the execution of the PRR [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência] and the construction of new homes. It is necessary to create more public residences, and those that exist are very weak, without rehabilitation for years, it is urgent to restore them. It is extremely important to provide better accommodation conditions for university students, particularly in Minho”, he argued.
The AAUM president added that if cities with universities have “better mobility, better transport”, there is also the “possibility of having students in areas further away from the university, and accessible transport would help”.
José Fernandes
Real Estate Express
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David Lafuente, research fellow at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, in Lisbon, also criticized the “purely speculative prices” of houses in the capital, and took the opportunity to call for greater attention to the precariousness of many scientific researchers.
“There needs to be an end to tuition fees, which make it difficult for many people to access higher education; more social action, including food and accommodation; and convert all scientific research grants into contracts,” said 25-year-old Lafuente.
For Matilde Lopes, the strong mobilization and celebration in front of Parliament is “fundamental, because young people are the future of the country”. “And if we don’t claim our rights, we will end up losing them all,” she warned.
The 19-year-old student, from Santarém and studying in Coimbra, also pointed to the specific problem of “little funding for social action” in university republics in the city, which are very degraded, which “results in a lack of ability to pay food and provide conditions” for students living in these places.
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