Over 560 schools disrupted as high school protests continue in France

Back to France, midday figures quoted by Le Figaro show that 564 schools and educational establishments have been disrupted by the ongoing unrest, and some 600 people have been arrested so far today as the high school protests continue.

Spain on high alert as heavy rains expected to hit large parts of the country

Ajit Niranjan

Europe environment correspondent

Heavy rains have begun to batter eastern Spain, as large parts of the country brace for torrential downpours throughout the weekend.

Valencian authorities shut schools, affecting almost half a million students, while in Catalonia, towns in 3 regions have been put under lockdown, El País reports.

Red warnings of “extraordinary danger” were issued in parts of Tarragona and along the Castellón coast.

The rains come almost two years after devastating floods made worse by climate change swept through eastern Spain and killed more than 240 people, mostly in the Valencia region.

Spanish climate scientists have already attributed this autumn’s heavy rain to a superheated Mediterranean Sea, which follows a scorchingly hot summer in western Europe. Aemet, the country’s meteorological organisation, said many areas of the western Mediterranean are 4C hotter than usual for this time of year, with temperatures more typical of August.

Hot seas evaporate more water and hot air can hold more moisture, allowing downpours to hit harder.

Another big story we are keeping a close eye on is the worsening weather in southern Spain, where local authorities are bracing for torrential rain over the coming days.

Over to our European environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan for an update.

Spanish rightwing parties to vote against new housing measures despite public support

Ashifa Kassam

in Madrid

Meanwhile, rightwing parties in Spain have said they will vote against new housing measures that are set to be put to parliament today by the Socialist-led coalition government.

The decision by the conservative People’s party, the far-right Vox and the hardline Catalan pro-independence party Junts means the new measures will likely not pass – a result that could see the country pitched into a heated standoff over access to housing.

The long-simmering anger over soaring housing costs burst into public view 10 days ago after 87-year-old Maricarmen, who uses a wheelchair, was evicted from the home she had lived in for 70 years. For many in Spain, it was the last straw of a housing market that had left many behind as rents surged 80% within a decade and the cost of homes climbed by 63%.

As the anger snowballed into encampments across the country, the Socialists-led coalition government said it had agreed on new measures and would put them to parliament on Friday.

Late Thursday, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the vote would go ahead as planned despite the decision by rightwing parties. “Or you’re with the social majority or with speculators,” he said, adding that the vote would lay bare the “true colours” of the dissenting parties.

Meanwhile the Madrid tenants’ union, which has been the driving force behind the protests, responded to the news with a call for people in Spain to again take to the streets this weekend.

The protests have breathed new life into Sánchez’s beleaguered government by shifting the country’s attention from the recent events in Ceuta to focus on housing.

On Friday, as a new poll suggested that two-thirds of people in Spain support the idea of intervening in the housing market to limit prices, sources told news site Eldiario.es that the Socialists were mulling whether to bring forward next year’s elections and hold them in November.

Back to France, the situation appears to be escalating again in Strasbourg, where protesters are building a barrier and clashing with the local police.

Further incidents are also reported in Paris and Nantes, where at least ten people were arrested during a clash with riot police this morning.

Swedish Social Democratic leader Andersson gets second chance to form government

There are also big news lines emerging from Sweden, as the parliament speaker Andreas Norlén has asked Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson to have another go at forming the new Swedish government.

She will be given a week, starting on Monday, to see if she can build a government that would secure enough support in the new parliament. At the end of that period she will need to report back or ask for an extension.

The move comes just days after Andersson said on Monday she was unable to secure enough backing after a potential coalition partner backed Norlén, a centre-right politician, for the post of the speaker (Europe Live, Monday).

It’s worth remembering that Sweden runs on the principle of “negative parliamentarism,” meaning that any PM needs to see an absence of an absolute majority against them – instead of an absolute majority in favour – which creates a bit of breathing space as parties can still abstain (Europe Live, Swedish election night).

The prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France told BFMTV that the situation on the ground was “incomparable” to the riots on Thursday, with “far fewer demonstrators” joining the protests today.

11 schools in the region are affected, while 55 switched to e-learning, Jacques Witkowski told the broadcaster.

Morning opening: French protests continue to escalate with 400 schools closed on Friday

Jakub Krupa

Some 100 schools have been severely damaged during French high school protests that escalated this week into “urban violence,” with 40 headteachers injured, according to the latest figures from the French education ministry.

The pupils’ grievances range from overloaded timetables and overcrowded classes to insufficient teachers and unbearable temperatures during heatwaves earlier this year. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent protests.

Nearly 3,000 lycée students – aged between 15 and 18 – have been detained since the start of the protests, including 1,949 on Thursday alone, the interior ministry said.

During a call with local prosecutors last night, the justice minister Gérald Darmanin urged them to pursue civil liability claims so that parents are made financially responsible for damage caused by their children.

Meanwhile, education minister Édouard Geffrayasked parents for help, warning that “children are in danger on the streets.”

But there are no signs of tensions going down, with first incidents reported near the Jean-Rostand high school in Strasbourg and the Simone-Veil high school in Marseille. Some 400 schools remain closed today.

Damages from this week’s protests are likely to go into hundreds of millions euros, with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region reporting 25 million in damages.

I will keep an eye on that for you, and bring you all the latest from Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, too.

It’s Friday, 2 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.