Thousands of students and workers took to the streets across Italy on Friday (October 30, 2026), calling for more school funding and relief from the soaring cost of living, amid a high police presence to avert possible clashes.
Police in riot gear blocked off streets, but no major clashes had been reported as of midday. Marches were held in dozens of cities up and down the country, including in Bologna, Genoa, Naples, and Turin — where a few minor skirmishes between protesters and riot police occurred at the start of the protest. An AFP photographer witnessed a heavy police presence outside the Economy Ministry, which the procession passed by. The Milan protest also began at the central train station, but then headed outside the city — far from the centre where young vandals had looted stores, destroyed property, and clashed with police two weeks ago after another sanctioned cost-of-living demonstration.
Friday’s (October 30, 2026) Italy-wide protest comes after weeks of demonstrations, led by students who have set up tent camps and occupied schools to make their demands heard, fuelled by similar movements in nearby France and Spain.
“They can’t afford to pay exorbitant tuition fees, and rent… which weighs heavily on their parents’ shoulders,” said the 21-year-old, citing student housing in Rome that could reach 1,200 euros per month for a single room. Besides students, the demonstrators at Friday’s (October 30, 2026) protest included teachers, workers and retired people, with one man in Rome bearing a sign that read “Pensioners — Pissed Off and Furious”.
