Protests in Europe beyond France: fires in Catalonia, tear gas in Albania, and hooded figures at the Colosseum

MILAN. – Saturday's protests centered in France had echoes in other parts of Europe, with marches in Italy, Spain, Albania and Portugal. Italy deployed soldiers in Milan, the country's capital of fashion and finance, in anticipation of the protests called one week after the mobilizations that ended in looting and clashes with police. Against that backdrop, at least ten thousand demonstrators gathered in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, in front of the Milan Polytechnic, after setting off from two different points and converging into a single march. Demonstrators gathered in central Milan at a protest over the rising cost of living Ipa - IPA via ZUMA Press DPA During the demonstration, chants were raised against Giorgia Meloni's government, and a sign of the right-wing League party —which was holding its federal congress in the city— was torn down and set on fire. Law enforcement carried out checks on several young people in the central Largo Cairoli square and at the Centrale and Cadorna train stations, many of whom were questioned in police vehicles. Meloni's government had sent 500 soldiers who joined the hundreds already stationed there in support of 5,000 police officers and other law enforcement agents. Police also carried out surveillance with drones, checks at railway stations and online monitoring. Many shops, especially luxury boutiques in the city's fashion district, such as Omega, Tiffany and Gucci, boarded up their windows with wooden planks. A week earlier, some protesters broke into stores by force to steal sneakers, sportswear and other items on the streets leading off the central Duomo Square, among other acts of vandalism. Italian riot police guard access to the Colosseum Gregorio Borgia - AP Milan police said last week's violence and looting involved about 2,000 very young protesters, many of whom were, in their description, "second-generation naturalized Italians," as well as foreigners. Police arrested 45 people. Security was also reinforced in Rome, where authorities locked down the streets with luxury establishments and stepped up controls around the Colosseum and Piazza del Popolo ahead of the protests. Amid the demonstrations, a group of young people —who had broken away from an anti-war march that went through the center— headed toward the Arch of Constantine, an area heavily frequented by tourists. Riot police intervened at the scene and there were moments of tension, while some hooded protesters managed to force their way into the Colosseum. In addition to Rome and Milan, protests were held in at least seven other Italian cities. The newly formed "October 17 Movement" was the main driving force behind the mobilizations, along with student federations, grassroots unions and anti-war coalitions. Spain red-hot In Spain, a gathering of young people called in central Barcelona turned into looting of shops, burning of dumpsters, damage to urban furniture and clashes with the Mossos d'Esquadra, who were pelted with stones and blunt objects. The Catalan protest, which circulated on social media under the slogan "Institut Indignat" —a translation of the "Lycées Indignés" movement behind the student mobilizations in France— drew dozens of young people to Catalonia Square, most of them dressed in black. Protests in Catalonia on Saturday, October 24 All of this took place amid a large influx of citizens and tourists who were in the city center and meters away from the encampment for the right to housing that has been set up in Catalonia Square for weeks. In Madrid, thousands of retirees and other people marched to demand that public pensions not be touched. Like María José Benito, 68, who said that pensioners are being threatened with the privatization of pensions and that this is just one more thing they want to profit from. Protest in Madrid against the privatization of the pension system Bernat Armangue - AP The protests came ahead of the early elections of November 29, while President Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party criticized the conservative opposition Popular Party for winking at the privatization of public pensions. Spain has been shaken this northern autumn by protests over access to housing, as rental and purchase costs have risen in recent years beyond what many Spaniards can afford. Portugal Following the example of their Spanish neighbors, a demonstration took place in Lisbon, where those gathered marched to demand affordable housing. The protesters also criticized recent measures announced by the government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, which include loosening the cap on annual rent increases and making it easier to evict tenants who do not pay rent. Montenegro defends the measures and maintains that they seek to strengthen trust between tenants and landlords and boost the rental market. Critics say the measures are unbalanced and place tenants in a more vulnerable position. Albania Meanwhile, Albania's capital, Tirana, was the scene of a major protest against corruption and study conditions, in which demonstrators threw pyrotechnic mortars at police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. A cloud of gas blanketed Tirana's Skanderbeg Square at nightfall, while hundreds of police munition casings and cobblestones covered the main avenue leading to the government headquarters. Protesters clash with police amid a cloud of tear gas in Tirana, Albania ARMEND NIMANI - AFP For more than four hours, police tried to disperse the protesters with water cannons, some of whom, armed with incendiary devices, sought to attack government buildings and the headquarters of the Socialist Party, to which Prime Minister Edi Rama belongs. In mid-October, with the return to classes, high school and university students joined the protests against a project to build a tourist complex linked to Donald Trump's family, which gave this protest movement a new dimension. The mostly peaceful marches gave way to demonstrations marked by clashes that, according to the authorities, left more than 300 injured. Agencies AP, AFP, ANSA and Reuters