Yellow Vest protest spreads to Portugal as unrest against EU governments boils over

Yellow Vest protesters have been holding France to ransom since November 17 and today angry campaigners took to the streets of Portugal in an attempt to stop traffic and demand lower taxes, inspired by the Paris riots.

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About 100 protesters scuffled with police at a central square in Lisbon, while in the northern city of Braga some access roads were blocked early in the day. Joao Viana, 50, said: “The reason why I joined this protest today is because this really is the voice of the people.

“The movement is not aligned to any political party and we simply want to tell the government that we are tired of corruption, we are tired of taxes, we are tired of paying to sustain the political class."

Copycat protests have also flared up in other countries such as Belgium.

Meanwhile, today has seen Catalonia independence protesters clash with police in outrage of the Spanish government holding a Cabinet meeting in Barcelona.

And demonstrators are marching in Hungary against its leader Viktor Orban’s polocy changes.

France has faced several weeks of serious civil unrest with riots in Paris and major cities leaving three dead and sparking 4,523 arrests.

The French "gilets jaunes" (yellow vest) protesters - named after the high-visibility jackets French motorists must carry in their cars - launched their demonstration in mid-November to rally against fuel tax increases.

But the movement has since evolved into a wider backlash against the economic reforms of French President Emmanuel Macron, and protests in Paris this month were marred by major outbreaks of violence and vandalism.

Mr Macron was forced into a climbdown as he announced a £9billion concession package in an astonishing bid to buy off the protesters.

Philippe Marlière, professor in French and European politics at University College London, told politics news site, Politico.co.uk: “The issues which are being debated, which explain the current uprising in France, are issues which people across Europe are facing: poverty, questions of minimum wages, the state of public services. You find that everywhere.”

The Socialist government had put 20,000 police on alert, but there were no serious interruptions to traffic at the major intersections targeted by the protesters in Lisbon.

Portugal's minority government, which is backed by two far-left parties in parliament, has recently cut some taxes and raised the wages of civil servants in an effort to reverse austerity measures launched during Portugal's 2010-14 debt crisis.

Arménio Carlos, general secretary of a labour union and a Communist Party central committee member, told Portuguese radio station, TSF radio: “Instead of demanding progress and social justice, they are supporting extreme-right positions aimed at societal and civilisational regression.”