This year’s European protest-fest is headlined yet again by a repeat booking: instead of poring over philosophical texts, French teenagers are opting for a practical course in barricade construction. What started as piecemeal protests east of Paris turned nationwide in early October. On Tuesday roughly one in four of the country’s secondary schools were blocked, while more than 260,000 students, teachers, parents and trade unions took part in demonstrations across France.
“I’m here because I can’t take it anymore,” said Daniela, 15, sitting by her school’s blockade. “We have one nurse for 2,000 students, no maths teacher, no toilet paper and classrooms that reach 40C in the summer.” Throughout the day teens built picket lines, sang the national anthem and faced off with riot police.
Schools around the country have rallied around a list of urgent demands: more teachers to fill staffing gaps, investment in crumbling schools and reform of the university admissions platform. France’s presidential race was shaping up around affordability, security and healthcare. Now a mass movement over public education has caught Emmanuel Macron’s appointed government on the back foot.
Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu was quick to frame the movement as “urban violence”. Recalling the yellow vests protests that paralysed the country in 2018, Lecornu fell back on a tried-and-tested method: deploying one of Europe’s largest specialised anti-riot forces to break the blockades. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said that police were to use “all crowd-control weapons” to “put an end to” disorder.
The gamble quickly backfired. Videos of violent confrontations between teens and riot police went viral. Since the protests began, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, while widely shared footage of a 15-year-old losing his hand when a police stun grenade exploded has sparked public outrage.
Candidates for the presidential election next April rushed to capitalise on the protests. Far-right poll leader Marine Le Pen doubled down on “violence in schools” and the need for “more security”, while left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for a human buffer between police officers and students, hoping to turn anger over public services into votes.
Faced with a bad-press spiral, Lecornu changed his tune on Wednesday, opening dialogue and promising “solutions” by the end of the month. But France’s debt crisis leaves the government with little room to offer more and barricades rose again on Thursday.
But France’s education crisis, like that of many European countries, is not just budgetary. On paper, education is one of the government’s biggest spending items, set to reach €65.5bn in 2027 (about €2bn more than defence). But as the number of students and costs rise, headline spending can mask a squeeze on resources per pupil.
In France, public spending per student on higher education and research has fallen by about 20 per cent in real terms since 2017. The UK offers a similar example, with spending per secondary-school pupil at three per cent less than its level in 2010-2011, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Across Europe, the decay of public services amid rising living costs seems to be culminating in a political ras-le-bol – a colourful French idiom that depicts a bowl filled to the brim and about to overflow. In Belgium, students have started their own blockades, while in Spain, the eviction of an elderly woman rallied thousands of rent-fatigued Spaniards onto the streets.
This year’s youth-led protest season raises the question: who will turn that anger into political change? In France and Spain, the left is positioning itself around affordability, housing and public services, while the far right doubles down on immigration. Both sides have made gains among younger voters.
For now, electoral calculations remain far from the minds of French teenagers. “I don’t know much about the right and the left,” said Jeanne, 16, listening in as a student in a Spider-Man costume gave an impassioned speech through a megaphone. “I just hope that they’ll vote for a president who makes the schools better.” Politically, the protests have already succeeded in putting public education back on the presidential menu – all thanks to a generation that can’t vote.
Piloting an F-35 over the Nevada desert, your Monocle correspondent attempts a barrel roll. It proves surprisingly easy, so she does a few more, prompting the former Marine Corps pilot overseeing the flight to nudge the aircraft in the direction of the enemy. Finger on the trigger, I follow his directions and gently press the red button, sending a few small dots flying across the screen towards another vague target in the distance.
Considering that I’m in the seat of a simulator of one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world, it is a little lacking in drama. But there is no lack of tension when it comes to the F-35’s position in geopolitics today. With a raft of new orders from Europe and controversy over potential sales elsewhere, the symbol of US air superiority is having a moment.
In September, Lockheed Martin handed over Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II, with 34 more to come. A week later, Finland welcomed its first of 64 F-35As. Poland, meanwhile, got the first delivery of its F-35s in May.
“We are getting very strong international demand,” says James King, director of the US Navy F-35C programme at Lockheed Martin, adding that the company can currently produce 156 of the aircraft each year. “That is what the Joint Program Office wants us to execute. We obviously believe that we could do more. We would like to do more but that’s going to take a consistent demand signal to increase that capacity.”
It’s no surprise that Europe is clamouring for the best US military technology. With Russia’s assault on Ukraine in its fifth year, concerns are growing about spillover into the rest of Europe. Germany’s intelligence chief warned this week that the country risked getting into a “violent conflict” with Russia, with a drone attack on Leipzig airport in August raising tensions.
Last month, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk cautioned that Moscow could be planning drone and missile strikes on European nations supporting Ukraine. An uptick in F-35 orders is understandable, given that the plane is considered to be one of the most advanced stealth fighters in the skies right now, with more than 1,355 operational around the globe.
Speaking at the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center in Arlington, Virginia, senior vice-president for global business development and strategy Dan Tenney referred to the countries that they sell their F-35s to as “allies”. But who those allies are is not up to Lockheed Martin: the sale of F-35s is strictly controlled by the US government. A country wishing to acquire the fighters must do so via an application to the State Department and face a lengthy vetting and approval process.
The F-35A Lightning II was developed by the US with financial assistance from seven other nations in the Joint Strike Fighter programme – the UK, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark and Norway. Sales to 12 other countries have been approved. Turkey was initially part of the Joint Strike Fighter scheme but it was removed in 2019 after purchasing Russian-made air defences. But Trump has suggested that Turkey might yet receive the jets, telling reporters at July’s Nato summit that he had “no concerns” over the Russian systems.
The State Department also approved a potential $24.3bn (€21.7bn) sale of 48 F-35s to Saudi Arabia last month. Right now, Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with F-35s, a strategic decision by the US to ensure that it has a military advantage in the region. This potential sale has raised concern in Tel Aviv as well as in some corners of Washington. Saudi Arabia has conducted joint military exercises with China, igniting fears that Beijing could gain access to the elite US technology. The US Congress can review the sale and that process is currently ongoing.
Lockheed Martin executives would not address questions on who gets the F-35s, given that it’s a government decision. But with ongoing security concerns in Europe, and a US administration searching for allies in a region that has been thrown into turmoil by the country’s assault on Iran, King might soon get his wish for more orders.
The furniture market hasn’t been an easy business to be in recently. Economic shocks and geopolitical uncertainty – especially in the all-important Middle East – have been affecting exports and making life tricky, which is why a tried-and-tested fair is arguably more important than ever. Enter the immaculately oiled machine that is Milan’s Salone del Mobile. It might not be taking place until April but now that the sleepy summer is out of the way, it already feels as though a new Salone cycle is upon us. On Tuesday the kick-off press conference for the 2027 edition at Bovisa’s Fondazione Sozzani gave us a taster of what’s to come.
So what can a design fair do in uncertain times? The short answer is that it can become more resilient. Dating back to 1961, Salone might be an international showcase of everything from lighting to furniture but there’s no doubt that a large part of its mission is to support the “made in Italy” sector (about 60 per cent of exhibitors come from the Bel Paese). One of the most important aspects of the fair takes place long before it begins: months of outreach work, taking a Salone roadshow around the world in a bid to explore new markets. Cities such as London and New York remain vital destinations for Salone events – and there’s an increasing desire to explore Africa. The roadtrip will stop in Lagos later this month, marking the first time that Salone has touched down in Nigeria, and Cape Town in February.
Another way that a fair can become more resilient is by constantly thinking about programming – and covering bases. It’s already a mainstay for international high-end furniture brands such as Knoll (pictured below, left) and B&B Italia (pictured below, right).We have already seen Salone move into collectable design through its Raritas initiative; celebrating collectable design, it debuted this year (pictured above) and will return next year. It also organised the Euroluce International Lighting Forum (another 2027 returnee) to entice more people through the door. But the biggest punt this time around is the inaugural Salone Contract, which aims to connect design brands with a network of people who help to bring a contract job to life, from a hospital or education centre to an office or residential block.
Rather than a fair within a fair, Salone president Maria Porro calls it “a new marketplace”. Designed by Rem Koolhaas’s OMA practice, we know that it will mix supply and demand, bringing together designers with everyone from architects to developers. The Contract space will operate around a central plaza called The Dome, surrounded by different “neighbourhoods” representing sectors such as boating and office.
Salone Contract is a huge endeavour that involves the fair stepping outside its comfort zone. No one really knows how it will turn out at this stage – with Porro calling it a “large work in progress” – but the point is to be ambitious. Pull it off and Salone del Mobile will be all the more resilient for it.
Ed Stocker is Monocle’s Europe editor at large. For more insight and analysis, subscribe to Monocle today.
A quest for lightness emerged as the leitmotif for the spring/summer 2027 edition of Paris Fashion Week, which comes to a close today. After a summer of heatwaves, creative designers presented collections that shared an ethereal quality, with featherlight, almost see-through fabrics, as well as a palate-cleansing palette of pastel and neutral tones. At Issey Miyake, head designer Satoshi Kondo showcased coats made from ultrafine ripstop nylon that ballooned behind models like parachutes. Dior’s Jonathan Anderson wanted to construct outfits so light they could gracefully fit into a shoebox. Last night, under lit-up sculptures of swallows taking flight, Matthieu Blazy continued to evolve his joyous vision for Chanel – one that included sheer organza sets and a pair of Swan Lake tutus.
There’s perhaps a heavy-handed metaphor here too: after a year of cycling through a litany of debut and sophomore collections that paid tribute to brand legacies, it’s time to shake off the weight of this heritage. Designers are emerging from the archive and wiping the slate clean, which might also explain the abundance of optic-white show sets this season, from Loewe and Dries Van Noten to Dior and Hermès.
Suspending disbelief might also be at play. In Paris, the political and economic backdrop included students rioting over crumbling school infrastructure and chronic underinvestment in the national education system. Last week, the French government put forward a budget with €43bn in spending cuts, while the country’s debt deepens and a presidential election looms. No amount of fantasy and newness on the runway can counter these issues – let alone the repercussions on the demand for luxury goods by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and an economic slowdown in China.
Despite these industry woes, Paris can rest assured that its status as the world’s premier destination for fashion remains stable. The world still turns to France for approval in matters of luxury and taste. American brands, buyers and press continue to fly in to associate themselves with European taste. Group showcases are staged to reach a bigger audience than brands might find at home. The Australian Fashion Council sponsored 12 homegrown designers to show in Paris, ranging from the ultra-minimalist label Esse Studios to the more expressive brand Romance Was Born.
“Historically, Australian fashion was sold as resortwear,” Marianne Perkovic, the initiative’s chair, told Monocle. “It’s up to us to redefine this. We embarked on a new strategy, one pillar of which is trade and commerce. We’re hoping to put Australian fashion and textiles on the map because it’s an important export for us that currently accounts for €4.46bn each year. So we’re taking our designers to the world more.” With government backing, an initiative such as the Australian showcase proves that fashion can also be a tool for soft power. No country has understood this better than France and its luxury houses, where creative designers exert some wishful thinking to provide much-needed levity.
Grace Charlton is Monocle’s fashion editor. For more insight and analysis, subscribe to Monocle today.
The spring/summer 2027 edition of Paris Fashion Week offered the usual standout shows from the city’s major maisons – notably Dior, Chanel and Hermès – as well as collections from emerging names such as Torishéju Dumi and Marie Adam-Leenaerdt. Here are our 10 favourite shows.
1.
Torishéju
For London-based designer Torishéju Dumi, contemporary life is something of a circus – one that provides distraction from deeper issues. “There’s something off-kilter about the world today,” said Dumi backstage after the show. “It’s bizarre, it’s uncanny. You can’t really put your finger on it.”
Titled “Panem et Circenses” (after Roman poet and satirist Juvenal’s quip about bread and circuses), the designer’s collection demonstrated her expertise in menswear. From the line-up’s double-breasted jackets and bar jackets to hourglass jackets and blousons with Peter Pan collars and pagoda shoulders, it’s clear why Dumi received the 2025 LVMH Savoir-Faire Prize.
Compared to previous collections, this season also demonstrated a willingness to play with colours and patterns, from leopard print to romantic florals. “I’m really excited about the world I’m building right now,” added Dumi. “Everything has a funny element to it. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.”
torisheju.com
2.
Dries Van Noten
The invitation for the Dries Van Noten show took the form of a movie poster that could have been plucked straight out of the 1950s film-noir era. It hinted at what to expect this season from Belgian creative director Julian Klausner, who is fast emerging as a favourite among editors and buyers on the Paris Fashion Week calendar. “I had in mind this character, an actress in between scenes like Grace Kelly,” said Klausner after the show. On the runway, models wore knee-length skirts, boxy blazers and classic peep-toe heels. The palette was kept light and seductive, with lingerie tones of jade green, lilac, baby blue, lemon and blush pink.
There was something a little Margaritaville about Klausner’s choice of patterns this season (think flamingos, martini glasses and kisses) and the accessories, particularly the oversized jewellery and brooches. “A brooch can make something old in your wardrobe feel glamorous,” added Klausner. “I love the idea of dressing up for cocktail hour with cocktail jewellery.”
driesvannoten.com
3.
Dior
Fashion-show invitations range from the wacky to the impressively ornate but Dior offered something that, at first glance, left guests bemused: a pair of walnuts. They were wénwán nuts, made to be played with and rolled in the hand until, over time, take on a jade-like patina. Creative director Jonathan Anderson was clearly concerned with touch, time and imperfection – fittingly so for a designer still figuring out how to make one of fashion’s most storied houses feel like his own.
This season, he staged a continuation of his autumn/winter 2026 collection, revisiting both its themes and location, the geometrically precise Le Bassin Octagonal in the Jardin des Tuileries. Christian Dior himself was obsessed with flowers and symmetry found in nature. Anderson picked up that thread last season, tacking lily pads on shoes and floral motifs on clothes. This time the concept evolved into an exploration of what happens when geometry is allowed to move a bit more freely. Tailoring became transparent and fluid, the famous Bar jacket softened. Dresses were scattered with hand-cut petals, which appeared as if they had just blown in. The brand’s classic silhouettes looked as though they had been caught mid-movement. The collection was still recognisably Dior but a little less buttoned-up. And, in turn, maybe a little more grown-up.
dior.com
4.
Loewe
Loewe’s co-creative directors, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, explored history for their spring/summer 2027 collection as the Spanish brand celebrates its 180th anniversary. Bridging the old with the new, they put forward a new proposition for dressing – one that, as always, put craft front and centre. Chiffon dresses and midi skirts in bright yellows and electric blues were trimmed in tie-dye and finished with beading, while oversized bomber jackets featured hand-painted stripes in green and blue iterations.
Playfulness was the leitmotif of the collection, featuring shorts and dresses in exaggerated silhouettes that protruded around the hips, adorned floral beadwork. Initially founded as an artisanal leather-goods shop, Loewe is always considered with its use of hides – this time with leather jackets dressed up with thick leather belts. But the brand’s strength is its accessories, in particular the Puzzle bag, which was a runaway hit during Jonathan Anderson’s tenure as creative director. This season, a mesh clutch embellished with glass beads and elongated square-toe kitten heels will hopefully prove to be another commercial success as McCollough and Hernandez solidify their vision for the house.
loewe.com
5.
Givenchy
For spring, Sarah Burton challenged notions of female archetypes, introducing silhouettes that consider the many versions of women. There was a dynamic feel to the co-ordinated leather shirts tucked into streamlined midi skirts or the sturdy double-breasted coats that gave a nod to the 1980s. Yet the tailoring felt sensual too – cue the oversized trousers, disguised as a jumpsuit from the front but elegantly revealing the back.
Elsewhere, softness found form in romantic evening gowns finished with meticulous beadwork and frills, while tasseled dresses draped from wing-like arabesques of brass wire. Burton’s bolder experiments came in the form of leather micro-shorts and biker jackets, paired with hefty ankle boots accented with zippers. The accessories were admirable as well – think figure-hugging denim trousers punctuated by a belt buckle that opens into a compact mirror; asymmetric earrings; and peekaboo totes that revealed contrasting colours or beaded prints when left hanging open.
givenchy.com
6.
Chloé
Is this Chemena Kamali’s swansong for Chloé before taking the reins from Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent? That is the question dominating the front rows of Paris Fashion Week. If this was indeed her last collection for the Richemont-owned brand, it was a joyful one. A parade of multicoloured raincoats was a highlight, paired with sou’wester hats that draped into shawls, lightening the look of stiff vinyl and transparent PVC. Other details were less waterproof: cotton broderie anglaise was a staple across the line-up, appearing as inset panels on milkmaid dresses, camisoles and petticoats; while 1970s-inspired tailoring grounded slips and lacy, lingerie-like harnesses.
Kamali mined the house archives for its feminine and youthful language embodied through babydoll dresses, bateau necklines and flouncy ruffles. Romantic bohemianism is as present as ever, but the designer’s rendition – a collection offset with harder counterpoints in the addition of heavy-duty industrial wear and heavy fisherman’s coats – felt fresh. And her archival impulse is not just an aesthetic one. Nostalgia, when properly handled, can be very good business. Since the German designer’s arrival, Chloé has reported strong sales and the reissued Paddington bag quickly became a bestseller.
chloe.com
7.
Carven
Carven began with a cloud of pastels. Butter yellow, icy blue and candyfloss pink in the form of twin sets and wispy dresses. A rumpled effect, inspired by bedsheets, was achieved through precise tailoring and pinning. Then the collection moved to blacks and whites, for a line-up that is more stern but still fluid. Perhaps that defines Kai Nesselrath’s intention for the label; spring/summer 2027 marks the designer’s debut for the French couture house (which, since 2018, has been owned by Shanghainese group Icicle).
Naturally for a first collection, Nesselrath looked to Carven’s beginnings, back to Madame Carven as a woman who worked with her hands – a doer – and ran that spirit through his show. There was a lovely tension between the everyday and the avant garde. Pencil shavings became golden earrings and polished pencil accessories were pinned into hair. It felt like a smart place to begin for a maison whose identity has become somewhat elusive in recent years. Nesselrath has the rare chance to make Carven his own – an opportunity that he might not have in a house with more visually established codes.
carven.com
8.
Miu Miu
How do you make “real clothes” luxurious? That was Miuccia Prada’s concern this season at Miu Miu. In recent years, the brand has hit on a particular blend of aspirational covetability and high-fashion respect, partly through its nurturing of buzzy relationships with mass-market favourites. This year marked its fifth New Balance collaboration, this time reworking the RC150 racing trainer, while Wrangler was brought into the fold for vintage denim upcycled with the collection’s signature criss-crossed laces.
The collection leaned heavily into the sportswear that has earned the brand a cult following but with a contextual mix-up. Jersey tees went down the runway with pleated skirts; slouchy sweatpants with blazers and silky, 1970s disco-style wraparound tops; and embellished gym bras paired with stern loafers or stilettos. In some ways, it was a continuation of the skirt-centric collection over at Prada, its sister brand, both relying on interesting styling over newness.
Looks were often edited versions of another, with a single element swapped out for something else. Sneakers for loafers, a blazer for a knit, a skirt for a trouser. Mrs Prada might have found her answer to the question of luxury in a high-fashion Ship of Theseus – if we accept that nothing is new, can we find joy and expression in a modular wardrobe that makes old things feel fresh again?
miumiu.com
9.
Hermès
After a summer of record-breaking heatwaves in Paris, the idea of letting in some air preoccupied Nadège Vanhée when designing the spring/summer 2027 women’s ready-to-wear collection for Hermès. In practice, this manifested in open-weave knitwear and clothing with vents, as well as trousers and skirts that can be zipped or unzipped to adjust lengths according to the temperature.
The choice in colour was particularly refreshing, with a focus on sky blue, cream and burnt browns – a muted palette that was later offset with the introduction of sunflower yellow and an almost-red orange. In her show notes, Vanhée explained the chromatic evolution as one that follows the arc of daylight, from early morning mists to the vivid radiance of a high-summer sunset. It was a pared-back tour de force from the designer, whose next collection for the French luxury house will take place in January with a debut couture collection.
hermes.com
10.
Chanel
After the dizzying designer switchups at major maisons over the past two years, some new starters have been quick off the block, while others are still finding their stride. Matthieu Blazy’s spring/summer 2027 collection, which marked a year since his debut, continued to sharpen his optimistic vision for the house.
Giant white birds hung from the glass ceiling of the Grand Palais while models strutted beneath their outstretched wings. Texture has quickly become Blazy’s signature and it added to this sense of movement and flight on the runway: the show was an abundance of feathers, frills and ruffles, as well as a newly engineered smocked tweed. It preserved Chanel’s house codes but had the feel of something much lighter and more fluid.
The collection drew on Gabrielle Chanel’s own fashion journey, beginning with more restrictive silhouettes, before proceeding to jersey, mannish tailoring and, finally, to the trim suit that became her signature. Applause was rapturous at the show’s finale but Blazy remained calm. “It’s a good start,” he told the assembled reporters after the show.
chanel.com
The namesake label of Dublin-born, New York-based fashion designer Maria McManus is fast emerging as a brand of choice for women seeking high-quality wardrobe staples with built-in sustainability credentials. With a focus on biodegradable fibres and reduced water use, McManus founded her brand in 2020 after working for US brands such as Tory Burch and Club Monaco. During Paris Fashion Week, the designer took over a showroom in Le Marais, where she met Monocle to talk about mulling over her spring/summer 2027 collection on a holiday in Ireland, as well as why she credits Texas with getting her brand off the ground.
What was the starting point for this collection?
I spent a lot of time in Ireland this summer. My children were born in the US and they got a little fancy – they needed some grounding. So we headed to Ireland and spent two weeks driving the Wild Atlantic Way. We drove 2,200km to see every beach, nook and cranny of the west coast, from Cork all the way up to Donegal. I was also thinking about Edna O’Brien’s novels The Country Girls and The Lonely Girl. The books are about these country girls who move to The Big Smoke, hence the more glamorous pieces in the collection, as well as the sweet, organic-cotton sateen skirts with French-lace detailing. There are elements of Ireland in these little touches.
Can you tell us more about your manufacturing process?
For the most part we work with one factory in New York, one in Portugal and one in Poland, with another small one in China for knitwear. We’re diverse because of the situation with tariffs and duties in the US right now.
There’s a lot of repetition of fabrics in the collection. It is intentionally lean but there’s still innovation. One of the Japanese mills we work with bought farms in India and converted them to produce organic cotton. All of the lace is certified Dentelle de Calais-Caudry, made in northern France on old-fashioned Leavers looms. Our knitwear yarns are sourced in Italy. We use a silk replacement from Japan that is made from recycled fibres in a closed-loop system. We use recycled leather that is mixed with polyester at the moment but we’re looking for alternatives.
Where do you see opportunities in a tighter consumer market as an independent, self-funded brand?
We’re trying to grow our direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue. We’ve almost doubled it this year. We’re still a very US-based brand because I’m in New York. We have a loyal customer base; our return rate is about 45 per cent. Our customers are on the coasts, so New York and the northeast, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco. We also have a huge base in Texas. We work with shops in Austin, Houston and Dallas and, honestly, the reason that we’re still here is because our first collection was sold in Texas. Coming to Paris Fashion Week, our goal is to build an audience in Europe and [be stocked] in speciality boutiques. In the US, we’re in almost every city.
Summer in Spain is normally a time for switching off but this past season felt more heated, fuelled by a swathe of hot-button scandals around immigration, housing affordability and the use of public space. Long-simmering frustrations saw protests spill onto pavements and plazas around the country. But in stark contrast to fiery student demonstrations that gripped France over the weekend, protestors from Valencia to the Balearic Islands and Madrid found more artful ways to agitate. They were organised, packed clear proposals for policy reform and, in many instances, a picnic basket.
Yesterday morning, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez staked his political future on their cause. Standing before the nation and admitting to three years of “difficulties and hostilities” heading a minority coalition government, he announced plans to dissolve the national parliament and called snap elections for 29 November – nine months ahead of schedule.
There are echoes of 15 years ago, when another left-wing government was hanging onto power and the angry Indignados movement erupted onto the streets, protesting bipartisan malaise and the squeeze of austerity. That movement went on to transform the political landscape, helping to propel a new generation of left-leaning leaders into power in six of the country’s biggest town halls. Now, in 2026, is Pedro Sánchez agile enough to capitalise on a similar wave of momentum and salvage his own fragile political future?
Let’s wind the clock back to June. In Valencia the city’s mayor, María José Catalá, had just announced an ambitious plan to redesign a 5km stretch of the city’s seafront. Some restaurants floated the idea of designating specific picnic zones for locals, suggesting that their presence along the promenade was making the scene unsightly for tourists. The comments quickly – and understandably – caused a stir. In Valencia the beloved tradition of sopar a la fresca – a kind of outdoor supper – has long brought the esplanade to life, with residents making the most of the cooler evening air, sitting on deck chairs and feasting from Tupperware. After the row caught fire on social media, five neighbourhood associations banded together to stage a protest picnic on the balmy night of 5 September. Hundreds turned up, including politicians suddenly eager to reaffirm their defence of a popular custom that has been a part of culture toda la vida – that’s the Spanish way of saying, well, forever.
Throughout summer, similar protests – and delectable spreads – were staged in other tourist hotspots, where locals were also feeling the squeeze. In August, Palma de Mallorca’s Plaza Mayor filled up for sopars a la llesca (Catalan for eating alfresco), an annual dinner demonstration that started in 2025 to reclaim public space. Diners were encouraged to bring beach coolers and folding tables, as well as boardgames and musical instruments. Leave it to the Spanish to protest and still make it fun. Other picnics popped up around Ibiza’s marina and along a street in Madrid’s Lavapiés district. Their message was clear: listen to us; we’re fed up; we’re being priced out of our homes and barrios.
Spaniards welcomed record numbers of international visitors in August – up 9.2 per cent to 12.3 million – bringing the total for the first eight months of 2026 to 70.4 million. It’s part of a wider statistical success story that includes increased foreign investment and growth. For many, though, there is another side to the story: rising rents, noisy tourist apartments and officials who seem more willing to trumpet market-force rationale than defend basic rights.
In September, an 87-year-old disabled pensioner became the face of Spain;’s long-simmering housing crisis. Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from the home she had lived in for more than 70 years via stretcher after it was bought by an investment fund that tripled her rent. Her case had been playing out in the courts for several years but images of police forcing their way through protestors to forcibly remove the grandmother struck an incendiary chord.
For weeks, Madrid’s streets have been dominated by right-leaning protestors upset about the Sánchez government’s handling of a months-long migrant crisis in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on Morocco’s northern coast. Suddenly, another movement was surging into view, refocusing the nation’s attention on issues closer to home.
Backed by the well-organised Tenants’ Union, the mainly youth-led movement poured into the capital’s central Puerta de Sol plaza. Jangling keys and holding placards decrying “Your profits, our misery”, protestors built a symbolic encampment of some 1,500 tents. Now entering its second week, the standoff shows no signs of ending, with activists erecting makeshift street signs and even setting up their own co-working centre.
Unlike the Indignados movement, which erected a similar tent city in the same square 15 years ago, this time organisers arrived with a specific list of reforms: freezing evictions, building more social housing and enacting rental price caps. A legion of well-versed spokespeople parroted their demands to TV cameras across Spain.
Latching onto the momentum, the prime minister announced an emergency relief package but Sánchez’s latest legislative lifeline failed to pass on Friday. He does, however, have a reputation for remontadas (unlikely comebacks). The next few weeks will be especially tough. His party and minority coalition partner, Sumar, are both down in the polls, while fending off several corruption scandals and facing incumbency fatigue after eight years in power. Rolling the dice to call snap elections might be a bold move, switching a much-anticipated electoral battleground away from immigration and toward cost of living, housing reform and the defence of basic rights. During Sánchez’s tenure, rental prices have risen by 80 per cent, while a poll last week found that two-thirds of voters now support greater government intervention in the housing market.
We live in an era of increased street protest that increasingly goes nowhere. Modern historian Anton Jäger’s recent book, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization without Political Consequence, touches on this modern dilemma, arguing that dwindling political membership has been supplanted by chronically online activism, all while governments drag their feet on delivering substantive change. As tempers fray over rising costs, it’s no wonder many furious voters are radicalising.
Which is why Spain’s summer of people power matters. Around the world, some savvy leaders and parliamentarians have begun to focus on bread-and-butter issues – see recent mayoral results in New York and Berlin – but Spain’s example, combining creativity with a sense of comity, offers lessons for an exasperated electorate, too. Taking a stand on pavements and in plazas is one way of voicing or venting frustrations. But real change is more likely when movements articulate a clear vision for the future – and find a government willing to listen. Now, in Spain, the entire population has a chance to put that vision to a vote.
Liam Aldous is Monocle’s Madrid correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Brazil’s presidential election is heading to a second-round runoff with a clear frontrunner: Flávio Bolsonaro. The son of controversial far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro overperformed in Sunday’s first-round polls, claiming 47 per cent of the vote compared with 45 per cent for incumbent left-wing leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The race now heads to a runoff on 25 October but the wind is clearly in the sails of the younger Bolsonaro, who just months ago was written off, beleaguered by political infighting and beset by scandal. His potential victory later this month, combined with a broader right-wing sweep of key gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional races on Sunday, speaks volumes about the trajectory of the country.
First and foremost, the conservative right remains firmly in the ascendancy. Despite clichéd global stereotypes of samba and Carnival, the forces directing Brazil today are evangelical Christianity, so-called “traditional values” and an all-powerful agribusiness sector, which dominates Brazil’s interior states and wider economy. This movement is intrinsically tied up with the Bolsonaro family – so much so that they it has given this brand of conservative politics its name: bolsonarismo.
Second, both the Brazilian left and its centrist parties are in dire need of reinvention. At age 80, Lula has drawn obvious comparisons with Joe Biden in the US, even if the Brazilian leader remains a much sharper operator. Lula’s problems are not cognitive; rather they stem from a lack of fresh ideas and policies.
Lula has been present in Brazil’s political scene for decades and is serving his third non-consecutive term as president. But throughout the campaign he relied on a worn-out playbook of increased handouts and paternalistic politics. He has demonstrated, in his rhetoric and his policies, an inability to connect with a new generation of Brazilians who do not wish to rely on the state.
So what happens now? Flávio Bolsonaro has made clear that, should he succeed in the runoff, his burning political priority is to provide a pardon for his father, who is under house arrest after being convicted of plotting a coup following his own 2022 election defeat.
Beyond that, he has been notably short on ideas and proposals. A Bolsonaro victory would likely boost Brazilian markets, with traders and investors expecting Latin America’s largest economy to pivot back towards free-market policies and away from Lula’s state-centred approach. More than anything, the market will hope that Flávio Bolsonaro restores a sense of fiscal discipline, which has been sorely missing under Lula’s administration and in past left-wing governments.
In the grander sense, a victory for Bolsonaro would solidify his family’s position in Brazilian politics for decades to come. For a fleeting moment early in this election cycle, it appeared that the mantle of bolsonarismo might pass to a centre-right candidate from outside the family. Now it’s clear that this clan isn’t ready to bow out. In addition to his father, Flávio’s three brothers and stepmother are all successful politicians.
For Lula, it is a time for soul-searching and emergency manoeuvres. He has 21 days to overcome a deficit of some 2.5 million votes. He has long been regarded as one of Brazil’s most cunning politicians. This will be either his last hurrah or his political farewell.
Last week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the brash, 36-year-old, Democratic socialist congresswoman, was on a barn-storming tour of rural Upstate New York, far from her progressive Queens base. The timing and location are at once completely curious and entirely logical.
Now in her eighth year of government, AOC has emerged as the leading figure among the Democrats’ progressive left wing – and both a potential presidential and senate candidate in 2028. So the question on insiders’ minds in both Washington and Albany is: which job is AOC auditioning for, the presidency or senatorship?
The truth is that it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that AOC is auditioning for something. And most crucially, she clearly realises that despite her youth, this might be the only shot that she has at higher office for the next decade – if not beyond. “It’s very all or nothing,” she said in a recent interview from The New York Times. “If I were to run in this cycle and not win, I would be done.”
Still, Ocasio-Cortez has no fantasies about the obstacles that she faces in preventing her political obsolescence: criticism came fast this summer when she released a video series announcing her decision to freeze her eggs to prolong her fertility. The move hinted at a future campaign of some sorts but, while heartfelt and endearing to many (oversharing to others), it resulted in AOC having to reveal an end to her decade-long relationship with her (now former) fiancé, Riley Roberts. The media-fuelled saga was brief but unnecessarily messy – and amateurish for a would-be national campaign.
AOC also endured a series of geopolitical fumbles at February’s heavy-hitter-filled Munich Security Conference. The gaffes, which included locating Venezuela below the equator, positioned her as a lightweight not yet ready to lead beyond her district of devotees back in Queens.
But timing is everything. Never before have the sun, moon and a handful of constellations aligned so portentously for a major candidate as they have for AOC right now. The socialist wing of the Democrats is not merely having a moment – it’s owning it. Thanks to the election of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani last year, the socialists have secured subsequent mayorships and congressional wins nationwide.
Perhaps most consequentially, Americans are buying what they are selling. According to a recent Gallup poll, 43 per cent of Americans now harbour positive views of socialism. No candidate is poised to better benefit from this ideological makeover than AOC.
As for the races themselves, a senate campaign would be the easiest move for AOC – she would almost certainly win the seat currently occupied by Charles Schumer, the Democrats’ 75-year-old éminence grise with the lowest approval rating of any leading politician in the US. But then there’s the presidency. AOC might be a national figure but she’s still reaching for the bipartisan profile of former vice-president Kamala Harris and California governor Gavin Newsom, who are both likely to run in 2028. But honestly, so what?
AOC’s star power has made her especially adept at raising money. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, she raised nearly $10m (€8.9m) but her cash-collection efforts have yet to be tested at the presidential level. Most crucially, AOC knows how to wow a crowd in authentic and ingenious ways.
While many on the left sat bemoaning Donald Trump’s return to office last year, AOC hit the road with Bernie Sanders on their widely watched Fighting Oligarchy tour. Not only were the pair received like rock stars but the tour proved AOC’s knack for skirting party conventions to rally their base.
Her egg-freezing displayed similar populist, feel-good theatrics. Yes, she had to awkwardly disclose her singleton status but AOC still managed to frame a personal medical decision as a tool for female empowerment, while the Trump administration, she says, compromises reproductive freedoms. This is the type of identity-politics mastery that Harris tried – but ultimately failed – to achieve in 2024 and demonstrates why AOC, rather than Newsom, could prove to be Harris’s true foil.
As for that Munich mess-up, Trump had even less foreign experience than AOC when he ran in 2016 and, a decade later, he’s still in office working to reshape the planet.
In the end, AOC’s ability to raise money could propel her either to the Senate or towards the White House in two years, especially if the Democratic socialists further consolidate their influence with big midterm wins next month. And if so, AOC will not merely be riding a wave – she might be the turn of the tide.
David Kaufman is a contributing writer at Monocle. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Bonjour from sunny Paris, where fashion week is in full swing, a postponed Pride parade is snaking through the streets, students are burning bins and smashing windows, the riot trucks and muscular cops are out in full force and there’s a hit of tear gas in the air. Yes, dear reader, Parisians are in their normal groove, doing what they do best: going to elegant events while looking chic, getting wound up over a multitude of topics while looking effortlessly cool and simply striding from A to B while looking super hot. How different Paris is to the 36 hours that I spent in Abu Dhabi earlier in the week, where it was just super hot – in part because the mercury said so, in part because Ryan Reynolds was on stage at the Livex urbanism conference. More on my chat with fellow Canadian Mr Reynolds later in the week.
As the northern hemisphere has officially shifted into cosy season, it’s time for a little autumn quiz. If you’ve participated before, you know the drill. If not, you need to answer the ten questions below and ensure that your answers land in my inbox no later than midday (Zürich time) on Monday. The three brightest sparks will get a copy of Sophie Grove’s hot-off-the-press Konfekt: A Guide to Generous Hosting and a few other little surprises. When submitting your answers, please tell us where you’re based and whether we can use your first name and the initial of your surname when identifying you as one of Monocle’s smartest readers. Ready? Pencil sharpened? Here we go!
1.
You’re in a restaurant with colleagues in the US and you’re really thirsty and hungry. There are a lot of people weaving around the restaurant who very much look like they work there and you’re doing amateur acrobatics to get someone’s attention. Finally someone in an apron approaches your group and offers up something between a wince and a smile. What’s the most annoying thing that they can say to you?
2.
You’re still in the US and you arrive at the reception of a big tech company with a woman who pretends that she’s all smiles and cookies but is, in fact, a distant Californian cousin of one of those bad-ass French riot officers. What is the most grating thing about being “welcomed” at a US corporate HQ these days?
3.
You’ll notice that barrel-leg trousers continue to be all the rage on the rails of certain retailers. While this voluminous look is fine if you have long pins, it also makes those who are shorter than 165cm (5ft 5in) look like circus acts. How many more weeks, months or years will this silhouette endure?
4.
As it’s Paris Fashion Week, can you name the next big maison that’s going to define a whole new space at the top end of the luxury market?
5.
Can you name the most bothersome and overused term in the English language, which should have disappeared from everyday conversation long ago but is still kicking around? Here’s a hint: it comes at an angle.
6.
Were the men who wrestled and restrained the rogue, likely radicalised co-pilot on that Flydubai flight this week really random civilian heroes – or were they rather more professional? Or extras from Fauda?
7.
Why has China, despite all its purchasing muscle and production prowess, not yet managed to create a global luxury brand? Or has it?
8.
Where will Monocle’s next café be opening? And when?
9.
Name the European automotive group that is ramping up production to meet demand for its surprise four-wheel success story. Hint: the vehicle lives across two of the group’s brands.
10.
What is going to be the hottest hotel opening of Q4? Bonus question if you also name the designer and can pronounce their last name properly.
