{"id":9519,"date":"2026-10-17T21:27:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T21:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9519"},"modified":"2026-10-17T21:27:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T21:27:38","slug":"cost-of-living-protests-hit-belgium-italy-portugal-and-france-european-union-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9519","title":{"rendered":"Cost of living protests hit Belgium, Italy, Portugal and France | European Union News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hundreds of thousands of Europeans took to the streets for separate demonstrations putting pressure on governments across the EU.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 17 Oct 2026<\/span>17 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have taken to the streets in separate, uncoordinated demonstrations to protest against the rising cost of living in their countries.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s protests were in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal in a wave of unrest that has put pressure on national governments across the European Union.<\/p>\n

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France experienced one of its most turbulent days of protests<\/a> in decades, with over 550,000 people joining demonstrations and police facing off with protesters across the country \u2013 but it was not the only country to see significant demonstrations.<\/p>\n

In Belgium\u2019s capital Brussels \u2013 which has already seen weeks of protests by students against university registration fees \u2013 police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters, who they accused of launching missiles at them and setting fires.<\/p>\n

In Liege, a smaller city east of Brussels, police also deployed water cannon to break up demonstrations. Police did not say how many people attended.<\/p>\n

An estimated tens of thousands of protesters marched in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, against the cost of living crisis, low wages and an inability to access housing in major cities. House prices in Portugal have more than doubled \u2060\u2060since 2017, while rents for new leases have increased nearly as much.<\/p>\n

Portuguese Parliamentary Affairs Minister Carlos \u200c\u200cAbreu \u200c\u200cAmorim said on Friday that the \u201cgovernment will not yield to shouts from the street\u201d.Protesters said their leaders are \u201cout of touch\u201d with the problem.<\/p>\n

In Milan and Bologna, Italian police reported that, alongside peaceful cost of living rallies, protesters threw stones and clashed with officers.<\/p>\n

Italian media reported several injuries and arrests.<\/p>\n

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Portuguese demonstrators in Lisbon set up tents to protest against the housing shortage, soaring rents and low wages [Filipe Amorim\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

French protests spill over<\/h2>\n

None of the protests reached the same scale as the nationwide rallies in France but they may be a sign of spilling over into other European nations, according to Alberto Alemanno, Professor of EU Law & Policy at HEC Paris business school.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrance is the epicentre of this movement \u2026 and there are signs now that this is spreading beyond France,\u201d Alemanno told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

He said Saturday\u2019s protests may not be the last in many of these countries and new hotspots could emerge.<\/p>\n

In Greece, Germany, and Austria, the \u201cearly stages\u201d of a movement is emerging, with mobilisation expected \u201cin the coming week\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

They are not a single movement, he explained, but several protests happening at the same time, with some \u201cshared grievances\u201d: underfunded education, rising costs and, for students, uncertain prospects after graduation.<\/p>\n

The unrest comes at a crucial time for Europe, as the continent prepares for what Alemanno called an \u201cunprecedented super-cycle of national elections\u201d in the coming 12 months, with votes scheduled in Spain, France, Italy and Poland.<\/p>\n

\u201cInevitably, all these protests, all these mobilisations, are going to be at the centre of the political conversation,\u201d Alemanno said.<\/p>\n

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Riot police fire water cannon during a youth protest\u00a0in Brussels [Nicolas Maeterlinck\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Hundreds of thousands of Europeans took to the streets for separate demonstrations putting pressure on governments across the EU. Published On 17 Oct 202617 Oct 2026 Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have taken to the streets in separate, uncoordinated demonstrations to protest against the rising cost of living in their countries. Saturday\u2019s protests were in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t