Cost-of-Living Protests Sweep Europe on Same Day: 550,000 March in France, Clashes in Belgium and Italy, Tent Camp in Lisbon
PARIS — Protests over the cost of living, education funding and housing erupted across several European countries on the same day, Saturday, October 17. France's Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 550,000; demonstrators clashed with police in Brussels and Liège in Belgium and in Milan and Bologna in Italy; tens of thousands marched in Lisbon, Portugal, where a protest tent camp appeared in the city centre. The same weekend, student protests demanding the prime minister's resignation entered a fifth day in Albania, and Spain's weeks-long housing protests continued. Al Jazeera described the demonstrations as separate and uncoordinated.
France was the centre of the wave. The Interior Ministry said 550,000 people protested in more than 140 towns and cities on October 17, including 110,000 in Paris; unions put the figure at 800,000. Ministry figures published on October 18 put arrests on October 17 at 2,397, with 997 police officers and gendarmes injured. One demonstrator died after a cardiac arrest near Paris, and the 143-year-old town hall in Limoges was destroyed by arson. On Sunday, clashes flared again at Place de la République in Paris, where 108 people were arrested, and President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation that evening. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is to chair a crisis meeting of ministers on Monday, October 19.
In Belgium, several hundred mostly young protesters gathered in central Brussels on Saturday, some clashing with police who fired tear gas and water cannon; water cannon was also used in the eastern city of Liège. Belgian media, citing police, reported about 150 people taken into custody in Brussels — 118 administrative arrests and 32 judicial detentions for alleged missile-throwing, resisting authority and arson — with five police officers slightly injured; in Liège, 45 people were arrested, including 12 minors. Interior Minister Bernard Quintin posted on X that what was happening in Brussels was "no longer mere protest." Le Monde has reported that students in French-speaking Belgium were already demonstrating over education costs earlier in October, a mobilisation partly inspired by the French high school movement.
In Italy, rallies called by the "Italia in Piazza" movement were held in 13 cities on Saturday, with protesters throwing stones and clashing with police in Milan and Bologna. Police said 28 people were arrested in northern cities on Saturday; Sky TG24, citing police figures, reported 197 people taken in for checks, 43 referred to judicial authorities and 141 law enforcement officers injured. The protests entered a second day on Sunday, with renewed clashes near Milan's Duomo and more than 60 people taken in for checks. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said demonstrating is a right but turning cities into battlefields is not, and announced a government meeting for Monday.
In Portugal, the CGTP union federation said "tens of thousands" filled a main avenue in central Lisbon on Saturday, protesting low wages and the housing crisis; Al Jazeera and The Guardian reported that demonstrators set up a tent camp in Rossio Square. House prices in Portugal have more than doubled since 2017, and rents on new leases have nearly doubled.
In Albania, student-led protests demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation entered a fifth day on Saturday. Police said 500 demonstrators had been detained, with 120 police officers and 45 protesters registered injured; prosecutors later said 388 people had been charged. Rama has refused to step down. Reuters reports the Albanian protests stem from corruption, a lack of jobs and education problems — grievances distinct from the cost-of-living protests in Western Europe, though escalating on the same weekend.
In Spain, housing protests have run since late September. After Congress voted down two government housing decrees on October 2, demonstrations swept more than 50 cities on October 3, with the government estimating about 70,000 marchers in Madrid; a protest camp at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid is now in its third week. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for November 29.
Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law and policy at HEC Paris, told Al Jazeera that France is the epicentre of the movement, that there are signs of discontent spreading beyond France, and that Saturday's protests may not be the last. He stressed that the protests are not a single movement but several demonstrations with overlapping grievances: underfunded education, rising living costs and, for students, uncertain job prospects after graduation. (GSM, via Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：10月17日巴黎抗议现场，示威者举起手写标语牌。照片：FreCha / Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 4.0）。
- 2026-10-17France Protest Day: Students and Yellow Vests March Nationwide, 166 Arrested by Midday
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: France Protest Day Turns More Violent as Arrests Reach 272 by Mid-Afternoon; Tourist Office Set Ablaze in Lyon
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: Paris Arrests Rise to 191 on France Protest Day; Organizers Put Nationwide Turnout Above 800,000
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: France's Interior Minister Puts Provisional Protest-Day Turnout at 550,000 Nationwide, With About 400 Detained and 60 Officers Injured
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: French PM Sébastien Lecornu Says 1,200 Detained Nationwide on Protest Day, Calls Violence Organized
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: France Protests Escalate After Dark as Limoges Town Hall Is Set Ablaze and Largely Destroyed
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: Macron Condemns Protest Violence and Vows Prosecutions; Two-Thirds of Limoges Town Hall Destroyed; CGT Calls National Strike for Nov. 5
- 2026-10-18France Protest Aftermath: Paris Mayor Says Whole Street 'Devastated,' Government Calls Violence a 'Warm-Up' for Election as Mélenchon Faults Police
- 2026-10-18Follow-Up: France Protest Toll Revised Up — Over 2,000 Arrested, 600+ Officers and Firefighters Injured, Two Dead; Macron to Address the Nation Tonight
- 2026-10-18Trump Blames Immigration for France Unrest in Truth Social Post, Urges France to Close Its Borders
- 2026-10-18Follow-Up: Macron Addresses the Nation: Blames Ultra-Left Groups and Criminals for Riots, Says Destroyers Must Pay and Looters Reimburse, Lets Prefects Ban Gatherings
- 2026-10-18Follow-Up: France Riot Toll Revised Up Again — Nearly 2,400 Arrested, Almost 1,000 Police and Gendarmes Injured; New Clashes in Paris on Sunday
- 2026-10-19Reactions Pour In After Macron's Address: Bardella Calls It "Deplorable and Cowardly"; Yellow Vest Groups Vow a Wider Strike
- 2026-10-19Cost-of-Living Protests Sweep Europe on Same Day: 550,000 March in France, Clashes in Belgium and Italy, Tent Camp in LisbonThis story
- 2026-10-19Follow-Up: Marseille Bans All Public Gatherings and Demonstrations from Noon to 8 p.m. on Oct. 19
- 2026-10-19Follow-up: French PM orders localized curfews for Monday night after weekend riots, does not rule out state of emergency
- 2026-10-19Follow-up: Paris police impose overnight curfew on République and Les Halles as localized curfews take effect across France
- 2026-10-19French Markets Tumble as Riots Add to Political Crisis: 10-Year Yield Hits 4.9%
- 2026-10-19European Governments Warn Citizens Over Security in France After Riots; Italy Urges Registration, Germany Says Further Riots Cannot Be Ruled Out
- 2026-10-19Follow-Up: Trump Says Paris Will Become "a Muslim City Very Soon," Urges Macron to Close Borders
- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: Portuguese Police Clear Housing Protest Camps in Lisbon and Porto Before Dawn: 55 Arrested, Activists Vow to Return
- 2026-10-21Follow-Up: Suspect Arrested in Limoges Town Hall Arson: 34-Year-Old Ultra-Left Activist on Security Watchlist, Anti-Terror Unit Joins Investigation
- 2026-10-22France's 10-Year Yield Closes at 5.009%, Highest Since July 2002, as Budget Vote Is Delayed and Moody's Decision Looms
- 2026-10-25Follow-Up: Portuguese Police Clear Lisbon Housing Protest Camp Again, Arresting 25
- 2026-10-28Follow-Up: Thousands Rally Outside Portugal's Parliament in Lisbon Over Housing Crisis, as Police Clearances Face an Official Inquiry
- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Thousands Return to Lisbon's Rossio Square Demanding the Rental Bill Be Scrapped, as Prime Minister Rules Out Repeal
