About 10,000 march in Athens as Greek students and teachers protest across the country

Crowds and policing in Athens

Students, teachers, university students, doctors and other public-sector workers filled the streets of Athens and dozens of other Greek cities on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, demanding better school buildings, higher teacher pay and more public education funding. Police put the crowd in central Athens and its suburbs at about 10,000 and said it rallied peacefully. The march set off from the Propylaea, the entrance to the University of Athens, and ended at Syntagma Square in front of parliament. Around 3,000 officers were deployed in the capital, including near government buildings, embassies and Ermou Street. About 500 pensioners separately protested in Kotzia Square.

What the protesters want

Teachers want new staff hired to fill vacant posts, better school infrastructure and higher salaries, along with state education spending lifted to 5% of GDP. Students are asking for free accommodation for people who study and more public money for education. Banners and chants linked the Greek demands to protests in France, where similar grievances over schools and living costs have been voiced. Ahead of the marches, Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said she had taken the students' demands on board. She also acknowledged that housing costs weigh on Greek households, and she pointed to projects worth more than €733 million for new student residences and upgraded school facilities.

Strikes, detentions and transport disruption

Several unions called stoppages. The primary school teachers' union announced a 24-hour strike, the secondary teachers' union a three-hour walkout until 14:00, and the Adedy confederation a three-hour strike. Hospital doctors also walked out over pay and staff shortages, although some schools stayed open. Metro service was disrupted, with Panepistimio station in Athens shut from 10:00 local time and five stations in Thessaloniki closed from early morning on police orders.

Detention figures differ by report: Europa Press put the number held in Athens at about ten, while ANSA cited local media saying at least twelve people had been detained.

Housing and wages

Housing sits at the center of the protests. Students pitched tents in Syntagma Square on Tuesday, 20 October, and stayed overnight before the march. Camps have also appeared in Athens and Thessaloniki, following similar actions in Madrid and Lisbon. Engineering student Panagiotis Moschonas, 20, criticized the conservative government for doing too little to ease the cost of living, and he pointed to the government's rent aid as inadequate:

It says that it is allegedly helping students, with a rent subsidy of 120 euros ($135) per month.

University student Georgia Foukidou, 21, who joined the Athens march, described the squeeze at home:

Surviving here is very difficult, the rent is really high, the houses are really small.

The average monthly salary of €1,500 is still at its 2009 level, and many young Greeks have been priced out of city housing by rising rents. Salaries have risen since the crisis years, yet real purchasing power for many Greeks is still among the lowest in the EU. Inflation and fuel and energy prices linked to the war in Iran and to limits on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have hit it again. Government aid to ease energy costs for households and businesses is set to reach about €1 billion.

Political pressure and background

The protests add pressure on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right government, which faces elections in mid-2027. Greece has since come out of its 2009 to 2018 debt crisis, a period when austerity, tied to three international bailouts totalling about €290 billion, pushed down wages and education budgets. Demonstrations in France and Albania, where living-cost anger has led to confrontations and property damage, preceded the Greek marches. Police said the crowd in central Athens and its suburbs rallied peacefully.