Thousands of people rallied in Lisbon, Porto and other Portuguese cities on Tuesday evening, hours after police dismantled protest camps and arrested a total of 55 demonstrators.

The protesters vowed to continue their campaign against Portugal 's deepening housing crisis, which has made buying or renting a home increasingly unaffordable.

Organizers said more than 1,000 people gathered in each of the two main protest locations, although police did not provide crowd estimates.

Protesters call for affordable housing as soaring property prices put pressure on residents Image: Pedro Nunes/REUTERS

In Lisbon's central Rossio square, demonstrators voted by a show of hands to re-establish their tent camp on Wednesday.

Police moves to shut down protest camps

Police launched coordinated operations in Lisbon and Porto shortly before 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday, after warning protesters that their camps were illegal.

Activists had occupied Lisbon's Rossio square since Saturday, setting up around 200 tents.…