ROME – Students protesting the increasingly sky-high costs of rents in the Eternal City have pitched tents in front of the Montecitorio Parliament building to dramatize their plight.

 “Studying is no longer a right but a privilege,” said Camilla Piredda, national coordinator of the Union of University Students.

 “For a student who is at a university away from home a year of study can cost as much as 12,000 euros.”

 Students throughout Italy have been protesting high rents by putting up tents in the centre of cities and sleeping in them. The cost of renting has been exacerbated by unregulated Airbnb rentals that also has damaged the hotel sector.

  jp