coordinated protests against cost of living in Europe November 2026, Digi Mart USA News: Unions and housing rights organizations in seven countries, including France, have called for coordinated demonstrations against the rising cost of living at the end of November. The groups say they hope to bring “millions” of people into the streets on November 20, 21 and 22.
The call was announced on Tuesday, November 3, amid what organizers describe as a “crucial moment” marked by a purchasing power crisis across Europe. The organizations include unions and tenant and housing associations from Spain, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy and Portugal.
Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Spanish federation of tenant unions, said the groups decided to coordinate their efforts after a meeting in Paris. “We have decided to coordinate in order to move forward together,” she told reporters.
The main demands include a “guarantee of the right to housing” and “control of the prices of housing, food and energy.” The organizers also call for higher wages and pensions. A member of the French yellow vest coordination, Benjamin Ball, said: “By the millions, we will take to the streets and show that peoples must lead, not billionaires.”
The organizations denounced a “runaway rise in the cost of living” and what they describe as insufficient action by governments. In Spain, the eviction of an 87-year-old Madrid retiree, Maricarmen Abascal, in September, who died a few days later, sparked large protests and pushed housing to the center of public debate.
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called early legislative elections for November 29, and the main Spanish unions have called a general strike for November 11.
Separately, a “youth strike” is planned for November 20 in 20 countries, coordinated by a Portuguese student association opposed to fossil fuels. In France, high school students launched earlier mobilizations over education funding and the Parcoursup university admissions system.
Housing is central to the protests because of its role in the cost-of-living crisis. According to figures cited by the report, housing prices in the European Union rose by more than 60% between 2010 and 2025, while rents rose by about 29%.
More than 16.5 million European households spent over 40% of their income on housing in 2024, a threshold known as excessive housing cost burden, representing 8.2% of EU households.
