A town hall is on fire - this is one of the images of the riots in France. The building in Limoges, 143 years old, is "largely lost," said the responsible prefect, Maurice Barate, to the AFP news agency.
In France, the so-called yellow vest movement, trade unions, pupils, students, farmers and other organizations called for a day of protest on Saturday against high living costs and grievances in the education system. According to government figures, around 550,000 people took part in the protests, including 110,000 in Paris alone. The organizers spoke of around 800,000 demonstrators nationwide. But there were protests not only in Marseille, Lyon and Avignon, people also took to the streets and squares in Portugal, Italy and Belgium because of the rising cost of living.
Protester Elena Costa said the people who pay taxes in Portugal and keep the country running would "lose their rights - especially the right to housing." "That's why we're all here together and trying to explain that we're suffocating," said the 46-year-old social worker.
According to official figures, rents in Portugal have increased by 124 percent within ten years. This is about twice as strong as the EU average. Young people – and residents of Lisbon – are particularly affected. There were also protests in the northern Portuguese city of Porto. A protest camp has also been set up there.
Milan
As in France, violent riots have broken out in Italy on the sidelines of peaceful demonstrations against high costs of living. The northern Italian metropolis of Milan was particularly affected, where young people dressed in black and masked threw fireworks and bottles at the police in the central Piazza Duomo and set up barricades, as the Ansa news agency reported. The police initially had to withdraw and wait for reinforcements.
Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence. “Demonstrating is a right, but setting our cities on fire is not,” she was quoted as saying. The left-wing mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, also condemned the riots, but also expressed understanding for the discontent of many people. »The reasons for the protest were understandable. “But the violence against the police and the serious damage to the city cannot be justified,” he said. "I'm worried that maybe we're underestimating the protests in the squares," Sala continued.
In other cities such as Turin, Bologna and Bergamo there were also clashes in which stones and fireworks were thrown at the police. In Milan alone, at least four police officers and 20 demonstrators were injured and over 50 young people were arrested. Half of them were minors, as Ansa further reported.
People with low to middle incomes in particular are heavily burdened by inflation and high petrol and diesel prices in Italy, while real wages stagnate. There is also a lack of affordable housing in metropolitan areas.
Brussels and Liège
In Belgium, police have used water cannons to disperse participants in protests against the high cost of living. In Brussels, officers used tear gas against youths who threw bottles and other objects, an AFP journalist reported on Saturday. According to police, there were around ten arrests.
The rally, which was attended by hundreds of people, had been called beforehand. The protest march was finally approved by the authorities. Police said water cannons were used to disperse groups throwing fireworks and flammable liquids. The demonstrators set fire to garbage cans and e-scooters and vandalized a Socialist Party office.
In Liège, police also used water cannons to disperse small groups of demonstrators. Ten days ago, demonstrators and emergency services clashed during protests in the city in eastern Belgium.
