Zona Franca dos Anjos was forced to leave the first floor it had occupied for over a decade. The landlady didn't want to renew the lease, which ended in December 2024 - a decision the association was trying to resist. The lock was changed on Tuesday.
It's a parish that is losing its associative fabric. A Angels Free Zone was evicted on Tuesday, October 7, after having been holding out since the beginning of this year in the space it occupied in Anjos, in Arroios. The lease had expired in December 2024 and the landlady didn't want to renew it, even after the association had proposed an increase in the rent. The association didn't want to leave, which led to the forced exit.
The eviction took place on Tuesday morning when only one person was on the premises of the Zona Franca dos Anjos, dealing with the usual lunch in the social canteen, as reports Público. The landlady, accompanied by an enforcement agent and armed with an eviction notice, knocked on the door. The lock was changed a few moments later and access to the interior was blocked, says journalist Samuel Alemão, who was at the scene.
“We were evicted”
“Today we arrived at your Free Zone and the landlady, accompanied by an enforcement agent, changed the lock on the space. We have 15 days to get everything out of there. Is the Anjos Free Zone over? We need your help, legal help, moral help!”, can be read in a statement of the collective on social media. Meanwhile, a banner reading: “We were evicted”.
Eviction was imminent. And Zona Franca dos Anjos knew it. Exactly one year ago, also on October 7th, the association announced on social media that its lease was up. “After 12 years of resistance, the new landlady will not renew the lease, putting the continuity of this space for creation, sharing and community at risk”, published, announcing an open assembly to discuss the future. “We need everyone to come up with solutions, alternatives and to fight for what we have built over all these years. It's essential to ensure that this project of solidarity and culture can continue.”
According to Lusa at the time, the collective tried to negotiate the contract and was willing to pay a rent of 1,000 euros (the current rent was 763.55 euros) and carry out work to improve the space, which, according to the association's president, Patrícia Azevedo, was in a state of disrepair. “quite segregated”. But the new landlady, daughter of the previous one, “not interested”, she said. Isabella Permanschlager, one of the volunteers and members of the Zona Franca, told Público that more recently they had tried to set a rent of 1500 euros per month. But this proposal was still not accepted by the other side.
Landlady says she wants the space for herself
The landlady assured Público journalist Samuel Alemão that she had informed the tenants almost a year in advance of her intention not to renew the contract, which ended in December 2024. Since then, the association has been unduly occupying the first floor of number 42 Rua de Moçambique.
“I told one of the people at the association in January of that year (2024) that I wasn't interested in extending the contract. They were told this well in advance. Next January will be two years since they were told”, explains the owner, who requested anonymity from Público. “They told me they were going to resist.” This Tuesday's eviction was the result of a prior notification on April 22. The landlady told Público that she wants the space for herself, not to develop it further.
Civic resistance
For at least nine months, Zona Franca dos Anjos managed to resist and continue its activity in the neighborhood. The social canteen, which offers low-cost daily meals to anyone who wants to eat there, is one of the main initiatives of the association, which is run on a voluntary basis. But the community also hosts talks, concerts, film screenings, workshops and other events aimed at the local community, in most cases free of charge or with a donation. “We're playing a very important social role: we're giving a stage to artists who don't have space in other venues”, Patrícia Azevedo told Lusa a year ago.
The Zona Franca is a meeting point for housing activism, acting as a space for civic resistance against gentrification and the dynamics of the real estate sector. This in a parish that has lost some of its associative fabric in recent years, such as the Sirigaita (which has been under threat of eviction since 2023), Casa Independente or Largo Residências, which moved from Intendente to Quartel until, in 2024, it found a home (albeit a temporary one) in Jardins do Bombarda.
For Isabella Permanschlager, the eviction took place this week “It fits in perfectly with the negative direction the city has taken in recent years, with the increasing marginalization of the people who live and work in the city”, he told Público. “This is very sad. It makes me angry that people who own several buildings are evicting us like this because they want to make more money”, said the volunteer, lamenting the lack of options for a new home. “In the real estate market, as it is now, it's totally impossible.”
While rents of up to 1,500 euros can exist in the city, the problem is that the Zona Franca activity takes place in a specific zone, which limits - or even makes impossible - the range of options. The future of the community is uncertain for the time being. The belongings have to be removed within 15 days, according to the eviction notice posted.
On Tuesday, a wave of solidarity ran through social media and culminated in a picnic with friends and neighbors near the association's facilities.
Ana Jara, current councillor and CDU candidate for Lisbon City Council (on the list headed by João Ferreira), and João Jaime Pires, the former director of Liceu Camões and an independent candidate for the Arroios council in the Viver Lisboa coalition (PS/Livre/BE/PAN), were empathetic to the struggle over the Anjos Free Trade Zone. Both candidates were present at the scene and posted on social media.
