They reject restrictions on demonstrations and partial curfews as a broader wave of protests spreads across France.
On Sunday, the Yellow Vests movement’s coordination group called for demonstrations featuring pot-banging protests outside the National Assembly on Friday, Oct. 30, to protest French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Macron and his administration have decided to take another step toward authoritarianism. They ban our demonstrations, impose curfews, and close city centers to protesters. We will make our pots and pans heard beneath the windows of lawmakers,” the Yellow Vests said.
The group, whose demonstrations shook France in 2018 during Macron’s first term, also called for the action to be extended to areas outside city halls in protest of restrictions on demonstrations and partial curfews in some cities.
These demonstrations are part of a wave of protests that began in September, when high school students took to the streets to demand improvements at their schools.
Le 24 octobre, manifestation dans la rue avec les étudiants et les gilets jaunes.
Des gens si différents, un même rythme. Pour le pouvoir d'achat, la dignité et l'avenir.
The text reads, “On Oct. 24, a street demonstration with students and the Yellow Vests. Such different people, yet sharing the same rhythm. For purchasing power, dignity, and the future.”
They later received support from college students, labor unions and the Yellow Vests, who added their demands for action against the rising cost of living and in defense of public services.
Organizers of the demonstrations held over the past two weekends have called for another day of protests on Saturday, Oct. 31, and are preparing a general strike for Nov. 5.
On Monday, in an effort to avert those events, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will meet with representatives of student organizations, teachers, labor unions, business organizations, local authorities and lawmakers.
From mass arrests in France to troop deployments in Italy, European leaders are taking varied approaches to protests and clashes across the continent. The unrest began in France in mid-September with student demonstrations over school conditions, then spread to other countries, where protests have centered on local grievances.
President Donald Trump has used the unrest to press his hard-line immigration message, blaming France’s protests on immigration and urging the country to close its borders.
French President Emmanuel Macron pushed back, calling foreign leaders' comments "unacceptable and even stupid" and accusing them of exploiting France’s crisis for political gain.
Here’s how leaders across Europe are responding.
France vows to make rioters pay as cities assess damage
Macron has vowed that those who loot or destroy property will be held accountable and made to pay for the damage. French authorities deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide Saturday as demonstrations took place in Paris and other cities.
Some clashes broke out in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes. Police used tear gas, sound grenades and water cannons, and the Interior Ministry reported more than 1,300 arrests.
Most union-organized marches were peaceful, though clashes broke out later in Paris and several other cities. Separately, a French intelligence assessment reportedly identified Antifa and other far-left groups as instigators of some of the violence, according to a French outlet.
Italy takes one of Europe's toughest lines
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned what she called "gangs of thugs" who used demonstrations to "sow chaos," and voiced support for police facing violence in several Italian cities.
Meloni moved quickly after the previous weekend’s looting and clashes, sending 500 additional soldiers to Milan and approving tougher penalties for minors involved in vandalism. She said destroying and stealing was a crime and that the state's response would be firm.
The measures put Meloni among the European leaders taking the most visible steps to deter further violence.
Greek police maintain a visible presence
While Greece has seen less unrest than France and other European countries, officials have been monitoring the risk of clashes as student and teacher demonstrations spread.
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said the right to protest must be respected as long as demonstrations remain lawful, while condemning violence, looting and occupations.
Police still kept a visible presence at demonstrations earlier in the week, which largely passed without major violence.
Belgium accuses Antifa-linked activists of stoking clashes
Belgium's demonstrations began over education reforms and budget cuts, with young protesters taking to the streets in Brussels and Liège. Earlier clashes injured police, damaged public areas and blocked roads. Nearly 200 people were arrested, according to Belgian officials.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin accused far-left activists, including people linked to Antifa, of infiltrating demonstrations and encouraging young people to commit violence.
Albania clashes escalate as protesters demand prime minister's ouster
In Albania’s capital, Tirana, student-led protests have grown into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama, with demonstrators demanding his resignation and accusing his government of corruption and neglecting schools and public services.
Police used tear gas and water cannons as more than 2,500 officers were deployed. Rama placed chairs outside his government headquarters and invited protesters to talk, but they rejected the gesture.
He said his government would address their concerns and warned that people responsible for violence could face criminal and financial consequences.
Spanish regional leaders vow consequences after Barcelona riots
In Spain, the unrest was largely concentrated in Barcelona, unlike France, where protests and clashes spread across multiple cities.
Police arrested 128 people in Barcelona after fires, vandalism and looting. Catalonia, the northeastern Spanish region that includes Barcelona, saw its regional president, Salvador Illa, condemn the violence and back the police response.
Meanwhile, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city would take legal action against those responsible and warned that parents or guardians could face consequences for damage caused by their children.
Police operations left 31 people detained and more than 20 injured, prompting parties to criticize PM Montenegro.
Early Sunday morning, Portuguese police violently evicted housing rights encampments that had been taking place in Lisbon and Oporto. The police operations left 31 people detained and more than 20 people injured.
The police action prompted reactions from most opposition parties, which criticized Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and his convenient silence in the face of the events.
Socialist Party (PS) leader Jose Luis Carneiro demanded a “comprehensive explanation” from the Montenegro administration regarding the police action at the encampments. He emphasized that the solution to the housing problem “is political, never police-related.”
“Montenegro cannot, through his silence, continue to pit the police against citizens and citizens against the police,” the Socialist leader said.
Although the government has not yet commented on the police operation, one of the parties in the governing coalition, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has spoken out.
Its spokesman, Sebastiao Bugalho, defended the “proportionality” of the police action, which took place “within the legal framework that is supposed to apply to protect the right to demonstrate.”
🇵🇹 Manifestação pacífica pelo direito à habitação, foi violentamente desmobilizada pela polícia de intervenção, no centro de Lisboa. O governo de direita português mandou evacuar a praça do Rossio durante a madrugada. Houve 31 detenções. pic.twitter.com/CgJBaD9cyU
The text reads, “A peaceful demonstration for the Right to Housing was violently dispersed by riot police in downtown Lisbon. The right-wing Portuguese government ordered the evacuation of Rossio Square in the early hours of the morning. There were 31 arrests.”
Meanwhile, far-right politician Andre Ventura, founder and leader of the Enough! party (Chega), defended the eviction, asserting that “the police have been very patient with these people camping out in the squares. Too patient, even!”
Nevertheless, even Ventura criticized the stance adopted by Montenegro and the Social Democratic Party, accusing the prime minister of hiding from problems and failing to come out publicly in support of the police.
In recent weeks, police violence against Portuguese citizens has drawn criticism from international humanitarian organizations such as SOS Racismo and from European left-wing parties, which have denounced the excessive use of force.
The housing movement has called for demonstrations in Lisbon and Oporto on Sunday to reject police violence, as well as another protest on Tuesday outside Parliament, where debate will begin on the 2027 state budget.
Anyone imagining that this morning’s scenes of violence were an end to ‘right to housing protests’ will be thinking again following news that protesters are set to return to the
Students, unions and families of protest victims demand action on extortion, environmental damage, living costs and police reform.
Young people, students, trade unions and human rights groups marched through central Lima on Saturday, demanding that President Keiko Fujimori’s government address rising extortion, deadly forest fires, the cost of living and alleged impunity for state repression.
Demonstrators began gathering at 4 p.m. in San Martín Square, a historic rallying point for popular movements in Peru. Participants included students from San Marcos and Catholic universities, human rights organizations, trade unions and members of the self-organized Generation Z movement.
The protests unfolded amid mounting concern over forest fires that have affected 16 regions across the country. Figures from Peru’s National Emergency Operations Center and the National Institute of Civil Defense recorded 479 emergencies, leaving 12 people dead and 708 displaced or otherwise affected.
The fires destroyed 1,299 hectares of crops and more than 13,800 hectares of natural vegetation, while also causing significant damage to local wildlife and livestock.
🚨 #URGENTE | Contra la extorsión y la crisis ambiental: jóvenes y colectivos sociales protestan en el centro de Lima
Text Reads: 🚨 #URGENT | Against extortion and the environmental crisis: young people and social groups protest in downtown Lima
Carrying banners calling for an end to the fires, police reform and solidarity with affected communities, demonstrators marched along Jirón de la Unión and Grau and Abancay avenues. Police blocked the procession from approaching the grounds of Congress.
Environmental concerns featured prominently in the march, with protesters criticizing what they described as inadequate government preparation and response to fires in the Andean highlands and Amazonian regions, including Cusco, Puno, Junín, Apurímac, Áncash, Huancavelica, Arequipa, Amazonas and Cajamarca.
One young demonstrator denounced the lack of firefighting teams, funding and preventive measures, arguing that the fires were extinguished only after rain arrived. The crisis, she said, had inflicted heavy losses on rural farmers and Indigenous communities.
Another protester highlighted flooding caused by heavy rains in Piura, in northern Peru, and the absence of a strategic plan to address the El Niño phenomenon. She also pointed to corruption in reconstruction projects and the neglect of infrastructure serving working-class communities.
Extortion was another central grievance. Transport workers, shopkeepers and small-business owners in working-class neighborhoods have been among those affected by the crime, according to the protest account. Demonstrators called for far-reaching police reform to dismantle corruption networks within the security forces and prioritize intelligence gathering and community-based prevention over the repression of social protests.
Families of people killed during social protests between December 2022 and June 2023 also joined the march, carrying photographs of their relatives and demanding justice. Their presence underscored the demonstrators’ broader call for accountability from a government they accuse of perpetuating impunity.
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