Cost of living protests hit Belgium, Italy, Portugal and France

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 2026Hundreds 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’s protests were in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal in a wave of unrest that has put pressure on national governments across the European Union.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Albanian police fire rubber bullets as protests against Rama escalatelist 2 of 3Tear gas and unrest as hundreds of thousands protest for reforms in Francelist 3 of 3Buildings and cars set on fire as cost of living protests rock Franceend of listFrance experienced one of its most turbulent days of protests in decades, with over 550,000 people joining demonstrations and police facing off with protesters across the country – but it was not the only country to see significant demonstrations.In Belgium’s capital Brussels – which has already seen weeks of protests by students against university registration fees – police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse ...