On Saturday, October 24, 2026, Europe's streets told a single story in six different languages. From Paris to Tirana, from Milan to Madrid, hundreds of thousands of people marched on the same day against the same grinding pressures — the cost of living, rents they cannot afford, schools that feel neglected, and pensions that no longer stretch far enough. What began in France as a student protest over school conditions has now become a continent-wide weekend ritual, and October 24 was its biggest day yet.
File photo: Protesters with placards beside a burning bin in Paris during the October 17 protests — the same movement that returned to the streets on October 24. Photo: Jorge Jaramillo / JJxFile, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
France: The Epicentre, Again
France was the centre of gravity. The Interior Ministry estimated 410,000 people demonstrated nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris. The CGT trade union put the national figure far higher, at nearly 800,000, with 250,000 in the capital. Both counts are reported here because the gap itself is part of the story — crowd numbers in France are always contested, and both sides use them politically.
Most marches began peacefully. By evening, the picture changed in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes, where police used tear gas and water cannon after protesters threw projectiles and fireworks. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said nearly 1,000 people were detained on Saturday evening, a figure later updated to 1,314 arrests, with around 50 police officers injured. That is still well below the previous weekend: on October 17, about 550,000 marched by the ministry's count and 2,397 people were arrested amid looting and arson, including a town hall set on fire in Limoges.
The government had deployed around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes nationwide — an enormous operation — and restricted demonstrations in several cities, permitting only union-organised marches in Paris. The Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Paris Opera all closed for the day, and the Art Basel Paris weekend programme was cancelled. For tourists and residents alike, the closures were a visible sign of how seriously the state took the threat of a repeat of October 17.
Protest leaders say the measures so far are inadequate. The government has begun talks with unions and student representatives, but organisers say they have received no real response — and more protests are already planned for October 31.
Italy: Soldiers on the Streets of Milan
Italy saw demonstrations in Milan, Rome, Turin, Naples, Bologna and Florence. Milan was on particular alert: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deployed 500 extra soldiers into the city, on top of hundreds already there and around 5,000 police, with drone surveillance and railway station checks. In Rome, a group of protesters briefly forced their way into the Colosseum before guards ushered them out.
Italian police reported 9 arrests and 371 people temporarily detained across eight cities on Saturday, including 110 minors. A new grouping calling itself the "Oct. 17 Movement" says it will protest every Saturday at 3 p.m. — a sign that, as in France, organisers are trying to turn a moment into a movement.
Albania: Students Versus the Government
In Tirana, student-led protests outside the Ministry of Education demanded lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Crowds set fire to dumpsters and couch cushions that Rama had placed as a symbolic invitation to dialogue. More than 2,500 police officers were deployed in the capital and turned water cannons on the crowd; at least five people were arrested. Albania's unrest has simmered since mid-October, and authorities say more than 300 people, protesters and police combined, have been injured in the recent clashes.
Spain, Portugal and Belgium: Different Grievances, Same Day
In Spain, around 25,000 people gathered in Madrid to demand stronger pension protections, including increases linked to inflation, while Barcelona saw burning barricades and clashes. In Portugal, demonstrations focused on housing affordability, with protesters calling for action over rising rents. In Brussels, police used water cannon and tear gas to break up student-made barricades, and high-end retailers boarded up their shops fearing a repeat of the previous week's looting.
The details differ from country to country — pensions in Madrid, rents in Lisbon, tuition fees in Tirana — but the underlying complaint is shared: wages and public services have not kept up with the price of everyday life.
Why Now? From Classrooms to a Cost-of-Living Revolt
The French movement began in September with high-school students blocking school doors over conditions, staffing and funding. It widened as unions, workers and Yellow Vest protesters joined, folding in fuel prices, household costs and strained public services. France imports about half of its diesel, and pump prices hit record levels in September — a burden in a country where three in four workers drive to work. Fuel did not start the fire, but it gave a schools protest something almost every household could join.
Across southern Europe, housing has become the other great accelerant. Rents and home prices have surged since 2017 in Portugal, while Spain faces a housing crisis ahead of a general election on November 29. When rent, fuel and food all rise at once, separate grievances merge into one crowd.
What Both Sides Say
The government case is one of public order: ministers argue that the heavy deployments prevented a repeat of the previous weekend's looting, that most marches were allowed to proceed peacefully, and that the violence came from small groups of masked rioters. Nuñez described the outcome as more "positive" than a week earlier, with businesses better protected.
The protesters' case is that the crackdown itself has become a grievance: restrictions on where and how people may march, mass pre-demonstration checks, and the use of tear gas and water cannon against largely peaceful crowds. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who joined the Paris march, called it a "total victory for the social movement" and warned the demonstrations would repeat every week until the government addresses their demands. Police unions, meanwhile, have warned they do not have enough staff to sustain this level of deployment for long — a warning that cuts both ways.
What Happens Next
Three things are worth watching. First, whether the October 31 protests match or exceed October 24 — organisers are explicitly planning a weekly rhythm. Second, whether the government's talks with unions and students produce concrete measures on schools, wages or prices, or collapse into the same stalemate. Third, whether the unrest keeps spreading: Serbia also voted on Sunday in a snap election shaped by a student-led anti-corruption movement, suggesting the student-driven, cost-of-living politics of this autumn is not confined to the EU's west.
For now, Europe's governments have bought calm with numbers — 70,000 officers in France, soldiers in Milan, water cannon in Tirana and Brussels. But a security operation is not an answer to a cost-of-living crisis, and the crowds know it. That is why Saturday, October 24, matters beyond a single weekend: it showed that Europe's anger is no longer a French story. It is a European one.
Video: Euronews Report on the Europe-Wide Protests
Watch: Euronews reports on protests sweeping Europe from France to Albania, Italy, Spain and Portugal. (Video: Euronews via YouTube)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people protested in France on October 24, 2026?
France's Interior Ministry estimated 410,000 demonstrators nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris. The CGT union estimated nearly 800,000 nationally and 250,000 in Paris. The true figure is disputed, as is usual for large French protests.
How many people were arrested?
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said nearly 1,000 people were detained on Saturday evening. A later ministry update put the total number arrested on Saturday at 1,314, with around 50 police officers injured — roughly half the previous weekend's arrest total.
Which countries saw protests on October 24?
France, Italy, Albania, Spain, Portugal and Belgium all saw protests or clashes on the same day, with different local demands — from pensions in Madrid to housing in Lisbon and tuition fees in Tirana.
Why are people protesting?
The movement began with French students protesting school conditions and funding, then widened to the cost of living, fuel prices, housing, pensions and public services. Similar pressures — especially housing costs — are driving protests elsewhere in Europe.
Are more protests planned?
Yes. Organisers in France have called further demonstrations, including on October 31, and Italy's "Oct. 17 Movement" says it will protest every Saturday at 3 p.m.
Sources
Figures and events in this article were cross-checked across CNN, Reuters, Euronews, France 24 reporting, the New York Post and ANI/Euronews coverage of the October 24–25 protests. Where sources disagreed — notably on crowd sizes and arrest totals — both figures are reported with attribution. The featured image is a file photo from the October 17 Paris protests, the same protest movement, credited to its photographer and used under its free licence.