Demonstrations have been convened in 25 Portuguese cities following an online and broadly non-party political campaign.

An internet site with a name that loosely translates as “Screw the troika! We want our lives back!”, first set up by Lisboners, ended up replicating online with demonstrations now convened for Saturday evening in central squares up and down the country.

The original signatories of the protest website declare the objective to be “the beginning of a popular peaceful rebellion” and an opportunity for everybody to say “enough!”

Similar demonstrations have also been called outside Portuguese consulates and embassies in Fortaleza (Brazil), Berlin, Barcelona, Paris and London.

Thursday saw its own particular demonstration when the Lisbon Restaurants Association set up a table and served up the Portuguese speciality ‘cozido’.

The association was seeking to convey that even when charging €100 that the four diners collectively paid for lunch, members were still making a 20% loss.

This was due to the recent hike in costs that, combined with a 30% to 40% drop in client numbers and cash saving changes in spending patterns, such as skipping dessert, were driving ever more outlets out of business and further raising unemployment, the association claimed.