Italy Braces for 'Autumn of Discontent' as Students Protest
- On Friday, students across Italy occupied schools and pitched tents in city centers, staging nationwide protests against education costs and living expenses; clashes erupted with police in Turin and flares were thrown at officers outside Rome's education ministry.
- Real wages fell 6.6 percent between 1990 and 2026 according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, while inflation accelerated to 4.2 percent in September, notably driven by fuel prices and compounding long-term economic stagnation.
- CGIL trade union leader Christian Ferrari told AFP the cost of living is "unbearable," while hauliers' union Conftrasporto threatened a "national blockade," denouncing "the climate of tension created by the unbearable situation linked to the surge in energy prices."
- Protester Riccardo told AFP that Italy needs "a new major autumn movement," while Italian media dubbed the season an "autumn of discontent" for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has faced mounting pressure on her government's economic record.
- Economist Veronica De Romanis, a professor at Luiss University in Rome, attributed the unrest to "a fear of the future," noting that career progression is tied to seniority rather than merit, prompting young people to "protest by leaving the country.
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<p>Large-scale student protests broke out in Italy: more than 400,000 people took to the streets Students protested against problems in schools, military spending and restrictions on immigrants. About ten people were injured in the clashes police officers.</p>
Italy is preparing for a turbulent fall, following a sudden increase in inflation caused by energy prices, students, truck drivers and farmers coming out of the street in the run-up to next year's elections. Several disparate protest initiatives, some inspired by the movements in France and Spain, are united in their opposition to the extreme right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, writes RFI.
Lyceans, students and Italian professors demonstrated on Friday, demanding better conditions of study and work. This, on the eve of a national strike on 17 October in their country, for which many Italian teenagers called on the social network to "do as in France".
As in France, students are now on the streets in Italy. Not everywhere it remains peaceful. The protest is also directed against plans of the Prime Minister Meloni's government.
Sapo
SIC NotíciasThousands of students went on the street in various Italian cities to demand more investment in education and less money for weapons. This Friday's protests were marked by clashes with the police, arrests and acts of vandalism.
Stabbing, arrests and destruction occurred in demonstrations held as part of "No Meloni Day" with demonstrators reacting to government education policy and the rising cost of living.
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