From Madrid to Milan to Paris...the livelihood crisis fuels the protests

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The gap between what European families earn and what they need to secure their lives has widened, causing homes to become narrower and yards to be filled.

From Madrid to Lisbon and Milan, protests escalated over rents and prices that deplete incomes, while this anger coincided with French movements demanding improving conditions in schools and public services.

Between the sit-in tents in the capitals and the confrontations that broke out in some marches, discontent went beyond complaining about high prices to questioning government policies and their ability to provide the elements of stability.

Although the reasons for the movement differed in each country, the demands converged on affordable housing, a wage that covers needs, and services that keep pace with what citizens pay and expect from the state.

In Spain, the housing crisis gained a human face, sparking anger that had been accumulating for a long time. The case of the eviction of Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87 years old, from her home in Madrid turned into a symbol of the suffering of tenants, and launched protests that pushed the right to housing to the forefront of the political scene.

As the movements expanded, the confrontation moved to Parliament, where an emergency government package to address the crisis fell, while demonstrators gathered outside demanding the protection of tenants.

Then Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced early elections on November 29, making the housing treatment an issue the parties were competing with for voters.

However, acknowledging the extent of the problem did not produce agreement on the solution. The government has proposed controlling rents and restricting some real estate purchases for companies, while the opposition is betting on accelerating construction and easing planning restrictions to increase supply. This dispute reflected the complexity of the crisis itself, with labor shortages, faltering construction, increasing demand for cities, and the spread of short-term rentals. Thus, the need to protect tenants competes with the need to provide new housing, amid division over policies that can achieve both.

On the other side of the border, demands for affordable housing resonated in Portugal, where protesters set up dozens of tents in Rossio Square in central Lisbon, and hundreds of young people spent a night there, in a move partly inspired by Spanish housing sit-ins.

The protesters also called for setting rent limits, amending rental legislation, and increasing public housing, according to the Spanish news agency Efe. The sit-in came after a march on Saturday called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers in protest against wages and the high cost of life, so that the demand for housing is linked to a broader question about the ability to live.

In the face of pressure, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Carlos Abreu Amorim confirmed the start of implementing measures to address concerns, while stressing that the government will not yield to the chants of the street.

But beyond the tenants' stories, the numbers revealed the scale of the housing market's shift; House prices in the European Union rose by an average of 53 percent between 2015 and 2024, while the increase in Portugal amounted to about 124.4 percent, according to data reported by the European Parliament.

These accumulated increases also explained why talk about a slowdown in price increases is not enough to allay anxiety; The costs that a home searcher must bear remain high, even if their rate of increase decreases.

Therefore, housing has become an influential factor in decisions beyond buying and renting, from independence from family to establishing a stable life. From this angle, it is possible to understand the protesters’ insistence on dealing with it as a social issue that requires broader intervention.

In Italy, high prices appeared at the forefront of a march in Milan against wars and the high cost of living, before it was punctuated by confrontations, burning barriers, and vandalizing property, which the police confronted with tear gas and water cannons.

For her part, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence while affirming the right to demonstrate, while Mayor Giuseppe Sala considered the motives of the protest understandable, but rejected the attacks and damage to the city.

The escalation did not end with the end of Saturday's march; Clashes renewed on Sunday near Duomo Square, where masked men smashed storefronts and set fire to garbage containers. More than 60 people were taken to police stations for further verification, according to Reuters. As a result of the spread of the unrest to Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo, and Turin, Meloni announced a government meeting to discuss the situation, at a time when the scope of the movements expanded to several northern cities.

In conjunction with this escalation, France faced anger in which the cost of living intertwined with poor school conditions, and the protests included riots, looting, and attacks on public buildings.

At least 2,400 people were arrested, while President Emmanuel Macron accused far-left groups of being responsible for much of the violence, and pledged to hold those involved accountable following an emergency meeting with senior officials.

In addition to the security tightening, Macron announced a path of dialogue, calling for the gathering of students, teachers, unions, legislators and business representatives during the week to formulate practical proposals.

He also ordered a review of information gathering and security preparations ahead of the unrest, while allowing some gatherings to be banned when necessary, according to Reuters.

Looking at these movements together, governments appear to be facing pressures whose demands are similar and whose paths are different: early elections in Spain, residential sit-ins in Lisbon, and confrontations that require security and political intervention in France and Italy.

While these paths suggest that restoring calm will remain dependent on the extent of the protesters’ conviction in the feasibility of the response.

Between the announced decisions and their actual impact, citizens are waiting for what they see in terms of rent that can be paid, a wage that is sufficient for them, and a school and services that meet their needs.