A housing crisis, rising fuel costs and deteriorating public services have sparked a wave of autumn protests across Europe where weeks of demonstrations in France, Italy and Albania have seen arrests and violence, while tent camps have formed in Spain and Portugal to protest unaffordable housing.
Young Europeans are experiencing "a strong sense of uncertainty and a lack of control," said Maria Silvestre, professor of sociology at the University of Deusto in Spain. "And when specific situations come together, a spark suddenly ignites that is capable of channeling that discontent and driving people into the streets."
Cities have turned into battlefields as top EU economies, including France, Italy and Spain, approach pivotal elections, while far-right parties have made electoral gains in Germany and could do so elsewhere. It also comes as Europe faces a critical moment in its support for Ukraine, with President Donald Trump making overtures to President Vladimir Putin even as Russia is blamed for increasingly frequent arson attacks, cyberattacks and other acts of sabotage in NATO countries.
Right-wing politicians have seized on the chaos. While protests in France have appeared broad-based, Trump portrayed immigrants as responsible for the destruction, writing Monday on his Truth Social platform: "The migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!"
Many of the protests have been fueled by frustrated young people. Other actors, including black-clad, masked agitators, have fomented violence, but French authorities and police have not blamed immigrants.
France ablaze
In France, which has a centuries-old tradition of popular protest, high schoolers have staged blockades and demonstrations for more than three weeks, demanding more resources for schools they describe as understaffed and dilapidated, especially in lower-income neighborhoods.
The protests broadened as France's CGT labor union and other activists joined in while students paused for a fall break. The movement now includes demands over rising living costs and public services.
Despite hundreds of thousands of people marching peacefully, the weekend’s unrest led to 2,400 arrests and serious disturbances in parts of France, including looting in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.
In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall and nearly destroyed the building. Some schools were set on fire. As students and rioters threw firebombs and law enforcement responded with tear gas, hundreds have been injured.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Saturday’s violence, accusing far-left activists of trying to foment chaos by attacking buildings and police.
"Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable," Macron said Sunday in a rare televised address.
Spain reels from housing costs
In Spain, elementary and secondary schoolteachers began an indefinite strike in Madrid last week to demand better pay and working conditions. Discontented teachers staged similar walkouts elsewhere in Spain this year.
In Madrid's central Puerta del Sol, tarpaulin tents have blanketed the square for weeks to protest rising housing costs, sparked by the eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman who later died while hospitalized. Smaller protest camps followed in other Spanish cities.
The public pressure led the ruling Socialist government to approve affordable housing measures, but they lacked support in Parliament, leading Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call for an early election in November. A general strike also was called for November – the first in 14 years.
Similar housing protests have sprung up in Portugal’s largest cities, Lisbon and Porto and in Barcelona, a focal point of Spain's overtourism and housing challenges.
Spain's minimum wage is 1,221 euros ($1,370), while the average monthly rent for an 80-square-meter apartment is around 1,130 euros (about $1,270), according to an analysis by the business newspaper Expansion.
"Most of my paycheck goes to the rent. My roommate struggles to make ends meet just like I do," said Diana Manzanares, a 20-year-old waitress at the Madrid encampment. "This is my reality and the reality of most of us living in this city."
"Italia in Piazza," or Italy in the Streets, has galvanized thousands of demonstrators, voicing demands for better employment, health care, education and access to housing, as well as higher wages. Inflation in Italy rose to 4.2% in September, surpassing the eurozone’s 3.8%, according to government data.
The peaceful marches were followed by violent riots in Turin and Bologna and in Italy's finance and fashion capital of Milan, where masked rioters clashed with police, looted stores and set property on fire. Milan police said 271 people were arrested - most of them minors - and 14 security officers were injured during two days of unrest.
Now a newly formed group calling itself the "Oct. 17 Movement" has announced what it describes as a "permanent mobilization" to demonstrate every Saturday at 3 p.m. in cities across Italy.
'Flamingo' movement
Anti-government protests have stretched over a week in Albania's capital of Tirana, with clashes escalating after high school and university students joined the broad anti-government "Flamingo" movement calling for Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.
Rama has condemned the protesters as "ideologized and radicalized" by antifa , an umbrella term for loosely organized far-left militants. President Trump has designated the movement a terrorist organization in the United States.
Ending corruption is a major demand of the movement, which was named for the natural habitat of flamingos in an area where Rama's government agreed to allow a major luxury tourism development linked to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. They also want protections for healthcare, education, and public pensions, according to its website.
In Serbia, the university students leading mass anti-corruption protests for nearly two years are challenging an attempted return to power by the Balkan country’s former populist leader Aleksandar Vucic in parliamentary elections.
The former authoritarian president is aiming to be named prime minister after the Oct. 25 vote. The youth-backed Students’ List party is believed to be running close to Vucic’s party, making the outcome uncertain and fueling fears of possible violence.