Protests concerning rising living costs and housing have spread to Italy and Portugal, following recent unrest in Spain and France. In Milan, a march on Saturday against living costs escalated into masked rioters throwing objects at police and setting barricades on fire. Police used water cannon and teargas, resulting in at least two officers injured and around 50 demonstrators detained.
Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, stated that while demonstrating is a right, "setting our cities ablaze is not." Milan's mayor, Giuseppe Sala, acknowledged the reasons for the protests but deemed the violence unjustifiable.
In Lisbon, a tent camp was established over the weekend in Rossio square by hundreds of protesters demanding action on the housing crisis and living costs. This follows a nationwide march that drew thousands. Protesters vowed to stay overnight, with one social assistant stating, "we are suffocating."
Official data indicates that Portuguese housing prices rose by 124% between 2015 and 2024, approximately twice the EU average. This increase particularly affects younger people and those in the Lisbon metropolitan area, where about a quarter of Portugal's population resides.