Italy has deployed an additional 500 soldiers to Milan and tightened public-order measures as authorities brace for renewed protests on Saturday following last week’s looting and clashes with police.
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Italy has sent an additional 500 soldiers to Milan as the city braces for renewed protests on Saturday, one week after looting and clashes with police.
The troops come on top of hundreds of soldiers already stationed in Milan and are intended to support roughly 5,000 police and other law-enforcement personnel.
Authorities said they are using drone surveillance, checks at railway stations, rapid-response units and online monitoring to reduce the risk of violence.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said he is concerned about a repeat of weekend violence and supported the deployment of more soldiers.
In Milan, some luxury stores in the fashion district boarded up windows with wooden planks after rioters last weekend smashed into shops, targeting sneakers, athletic wear and sporting goods on streets running off the city’s central Duomo square.
Officials said security measures on Saturday would extend beyond Milan’s city centre, amid concerns protesters could move into other neighbourhoods to avoid heavily policed areas.
Police said last week’s violence and looting involved about 2,000 very young protesters, including many described as “naturalized, second-generation Italians,” along with foreign nationals.
Over two days, police arrested 45 people, 34 of them minors, and Milan’s welfare councilor Lamberto Bertolé said more investigation is needed into the backgrounds and motives of the young people involved.
Bertolé, a member of the centre-left Democratic Party, said many young people increasingly lack a sense of belonging and prospects, adding that part of society feels excluded amid social and economic inequalities.
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 ahead of planned demonstrations, including one by right-wing students.
An anti-war march is scheduled to start in the early afternoon at Piazza della Repubblica, and organizers urged participants to keep their faces uncovered and hands visible while distancing themselves from any potential unrest.
In Albania’s capital, protesters have continued to clash with police for more than a week, with reports of rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks thrown at police who have used batons, water cannons and tear gas.
High school and university students in Albania said they want lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and an end to what they call corruption in the education system, and their demands have aligned with broader calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.
In Spain, large crowds marched peacefully through central Madrid to demand that public pensions are not “meddled” with, with demonstrators carrying banners reading “protect pensions” and “decent pensions for today and the future.”
In Lisbon, protesters who have been gathering to demand affordable housing are expected to march across the city on Saturday, including criticism of government measures announced by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro involving changes to yearly rent-increase caps and eviction facilitation for tenants who do not pay rent.
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