Energy prices are rising, fueling pain at the pump and inflation. And borrowing costs are climbing in France, Italy, Spain and Greece, meaning cash that could have been used to rebuild schools, subsidize housing or compensate drought-stricken farmers must now go toward repaying creditors. The societal consequences of this spiraling cost-of-living crisis are already surfacing, from rioting and looting in France on the sidelines of peaceful protests to blocked supply chains in Italy and giant campouts in historic Spanish plazas.
Authorities in Paris and Rome are deploying extra security forces to prevent similar scenes from playing out in the coming days. But fixing the underlying issues driving people to the streets appears to be difficult for Europe’s cash-strapped governments. With temperatures plunging and the energy crisis showing no signs of easing, a European winter of discontent is hovering on the horizon — while major elections, some featuring confident nationalist-populist parties, loom across the continent.
The situation in France — where on Saturday, students who had been blockading schools for weeks to pressure the government to better fund education joined forces with hundreds of thousands of people protesting the rising cost of living — is particularly concerning for the EU’s overall stability given the country is the bloc’s second-largest economy. The eviction of an 87-year-old pensioner from her home in Madrid last month triggered demonstrations across Spain over rental protections and housing prices, which between 2015 and 2025 rose by 80% while salaries increased by only 30%. Protesters in Portugal, where house prices have nearly tripled since 2015, driven up by tourist demand and digital nomads, followed suit.
Albanians have been peacefully protesting since May against alleged widespread government corruption and a proposed luxury resort linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. But the situation turned violent last week when students entered the fray, airing grievances including poverty and the cost of living, a lack of investment in education and health — and calling for the entire political class to resign.
Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets on Wednesday in Athens and around 50 other Greek cities, demanding more state funding for education, safe school buildings and affordable housing. Serbian students are out in force as well, turning the largest protests the country has ever seen into de facto political rallies ahead of parliamentary elections on Sunday. Youth movements have also called for protests in Germany, where small-scale gatherings over educational funding cuts have already taken place in Berlin and Hanover.
Over the weekend, students marched in several northern Italian cities to protest low wages and the cost of living. Flashes of violence, similar to those in France and Albania, were seen as well, with masked groups looting stores, throwing stones at police and setting fire to street furniture. Italian public broadcaster RAI, citing a police report, put the number of protesters at around 10,000 across several cities.
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