Photo credit: AP News
Protests over a range of issues have taken place in cities across Europe, from Milan and Madrid to Lisbon and Tirana. Demonstrators are taking to the streets over pensions, housing, education, corruption and opposition to war, reflecting a diverse mix of grievances across the continent.
Euronews reports that despite precautions, bans and heavy policing, the protests led to violent clashes in several cities in France – around 2,400 people have been arrested, while nearly 1,000 members of the security forces were injured, as well as 100 protesters and residents in Paris alone.
Thousands of people rallied for a fresh anti-government protest in the Albanian capital, Tirana, on Saturday, with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. In the latest of several clashes between police and protesters since mid-October, government buildings were attacked, and dozens of demonstrators were detained. Authorities said that more than 300 protesters and police have been injured.
Thousands took to the streets in Milan, Rome, Turin, Naples, Bologna and Florence, with protesters throwing bottles, stones and firecrackers.
Italian police said in a statement they had carried out nine arrests and briefly detained 371 people during protests in eight cities on Saturday. Of the people who were detained and taken to police stations, 110 were minors, the statement added.
In Madrid, the protesters’ key demands include linking pension increases to actual inflation, raising the minimum pension to match the minimum wage, closing the gender pension gap and protecting the public pension system from privatisation.
In Portugal, affordable housing is the main demand.
