MILAN (AP) — Thousands of young people marched Saturday through the streets of Milan, where large numbers of soldiers were deployed and luxury boutiques were boarded up in case of a repeat of last weekend's chaotic looting and clashes.
Premier Giorgia Meloni announced a raft of measures, including sending an additional 500 soldiers to Milan and tougher penalties for minors, who police said made up a large part of the violent protesters last week.
While protests in France have claimed most international attention, large demonstrations also rocked many European cities Saturday from Milan to Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana.
The protests encompass a broad range of issues from education and corruption to anti-war movements, pensions and housing.
Army vehicles and boarded-up luxury stores in Milan
In Milan, huge crowds of mostly young people gathered as night fell, chanting insults to Meloni and holding aloft banners such as “No to lies of the state.”
A group of protesters dumped manure outside Italy’s energy regulator and burned a symbolic, oversized electricity bill, images broadcast on local television showed.
The 500 soldiers deployed to Milan came in addition to hundreds already stationed there, supporting about 5,000 police and other security personnel. Authorities used drone surveillance, checks at railway stations, rapid-response units and online monitoring for potential calls to violence. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has said he is concerned about a repeat of violence and expressed support for the deployment of more soldiers.
Many stores, particularly luxury boutiques within Milan's fashion district including Omega, Tiffany and Gucci, boarded up their front windows.
Rioters last weekend smashed their way into stores, targeting sneakers, athletic wear and sporting goods on streets that run off the city’s central Duomo square.
Security measures extended beyond the city center over concerns protesters could move into other neighborhoods.
Demonstrations also took place in Rome, Turin and other cities, with some turning violent.
Officials said Saturday they were investigating a 30-year-old freelance journalist said to be the “mastermind” of the newly formed October 17 movement, which has been the main driver of the recent protests in Italy.
Milan police say last week's violence and looting involved about 2,000 very young protesters, many of them “naturalized, second-generation Italians,” alongside foreign nationals. Over two days, police arrested 45 people, including 34 minors.
“Many young people increasingly lack a sense of belonging and prospects for the future. Part of our society feels excluded, amid social and economic inequalities,” Milan’s welfare councilor, Lamberto Bertolé, told The Associated Press.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the soldiers deployed Saturday were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties and only in areas around train stations, not throughout the city. They are not authorized to carry pepper spray or tasers, he said.
Protesters try to force entry into Colosseum in Rome
Security was also heightened in Rome, where authorities locked down luxury shopping streets and stepped up controls around the Circus Maximus and Piazza del Popolo.
A small number of protesters tried to force their way into the Colosseum, but were ushered out by guards. Elsewhere, several hundred students demonstrated peacefully to stress they were not rioters.
“I think the images from last week were truly something terrible, especially for the young people, for the students, for the vast majority of the younger generations who want to study ... and do not accept being represented by those who use issues and needs to devastate entire cities,” said Riccardo Ponzio, national president of an Italian far-right student association.
A separate anti-war march took off in central Rome. Organizers sought to distance themselves from potential unrest, urging participants to keep their faces uncovered and hands visible.
Clashes and buildings set on fire in Albania
In Albania's capital Tirana, riot police used water cannons on large groups of protesters, some of whom set government buildings on fire and threw projectiles at police. Authorities said 2,500 officers patrolled the streets Saturday.
For over a week, protesters have hurled rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks at police who have used batons and tear gas in clashes in the city center.
High school and university students are demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and protesting corruption in the education system. Some have joined a broader anti-government movement calling for the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.
A separate protest organized by the opposition outside the prime minister's office turned violent earlier, with some activists lighting fires on the street.
Rama said Saturday his government was preparing a response to the students' demands and called them to a dialogue. He warned that violent protesters will face penalties.
Retirees march in Madrid over pensions
Thousands of retirees and others marched in Spain's capital Saturday to demand public pensions aren’t meddled with.
Large crowds marched peacefully down streets in central Madrid, waving colorful flags and banners reading “protect pensions” and “decent pensions for today and the future."
“They are threatening us with privatizing pensions. It’s just another thing they want to profit from," said Maria José Benito, 68.
The protests came ahead of next month’s snap election as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party criticized the conservative opposition Popular Party for making overtures about privatizing public pensions. Spain also has been roiled by protests this fall around the issue of housing, as rental and home costs have risen in recent years beyond what many Spaniards can afford.
Affordable housing is main theme in Lisbon protests
Taking their cue from Spaniards, protesters in Lisbon demanding affordable housing marched across the city on Saturday.
They have also targeted recent measures announced by the government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro that include easing the cap on yearly rent increases and facilitating the eviction of tenants who fail to pay rent.
Montenegro defends the measures saying that it aims at reinforcing trust between tenants and landlords and boosting the rentals market. Protesters claim that the measures are not balanced and put tenants in a more vulnerable position.
Nellas reported from Athens, and Hui reported from London. Associated Press writers Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Giada Zampano in Rome, and videojournalists Niccolò Lupone in Milan, Veronica Sauchelli in Rome, Alicia León in Madrid and Helena Alves in Lisbon contributed to this report.
