France continues to be rocked by mass protests :::: Looting continued for second night !! ::::: Protests from Paris to Milan as European cities gripped by "cost of living crisis"

"Cost of living crisis" ...... hit Europe  

France continues to be rocked by mass protests taking place nationwide, gathering momentum from student-led demonstrations that began last month in response to overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages.

European cities facing protests from Paris to Milan ...  continent gripped by cost of living crisis

      A protester feeds a fire with a material along the Canal Saint-Martin during protest action against the ‘high cost of living’ in Paris ::: 'The Independent' - AFP image 

Mass protests over the rising cost of living and worsening standards have thrown Europe into turmoil 

Europeans mocked at Indians in 2002 when middleclass indulged in looting of showrooms and shops in Ahmedabad. 

In 2026 --- Police in France appear to have been taken by 'surprise by scale of looting' that began after protests turned violent in Paris and other cities

 

Violent protests have broken out across Europe amid growing frustration over the cost of living crisis, a lack of affordable housing and deteriorating school conditions. As many as 550,000 people turned out across France on Saturday, according to authorities, to demonstrate against declining public services. Protests turned violent in Paris as shops were looted and cars set on fire in some of the city’s worst violence in years.

Young people waved Italian flags and let off flares in Milan as they rallied against the rising cost of living in scenes that were condemned by prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

Police used water cannon and teargas to break up the crowds after some masked rioters clashed with authorities and set off fires. Tens of thousands of people meanwhile marched through central Lisbon in protest of the soaring cost of living and a deepening housing crisis, echoing weeks of demonstrations in Spain that prompted prime minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap general election.

Pressure was also on Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama after a sixth consecutive day of protests over poor university conditions, high tuition fees and corruption, which saw hours-long violent clashes with police on Sunday. A protester feeds a fire with a material along the Canal Saint-Martin during ongoing protest action against the ‘high cost of living’, in Paris.  

Soon after Emmanuel Macron’s televised speech on Sunday night telling the nation it was “unbearable to see our streets ransacked”, groups of men looted shops in central Paris for hours for a second night running. Dozens of people attempted to smash windows near Les Halles shopping centre and grab goods. Others broke into an electrical shop in Belleville in the north of the city.

“Men were battering shop windows, trying to break in, then they were chased by police,” said a 73-year-old woman near Les Halles.  

Separately to those peaceful protesters, other groups made barricades of burning bikes, clashed with police and targeted state buildings, such as the town hall in the central city of Limoges, in what local mayors described as unprecedented violence. 

Finally, looters had run around city streets smashing shop windows and taking goods.