Protests sweep European cities as clashes and arson prompt tighter security in Italy, France, Spain and Albania

Thousands take to streets across Europe as police deploy tear gas, arrest protesters and tighten security amid clashes and arson.

AP, Oct 25, 2026, Milan : Thousands of young people marched on Saturday through the streets of several Italian cities, including Milan, Rome and Turin, as authorities deployed large numbers of police and soldiers in a largely successful bid to stave off a repeat of the violent clashes and looting that marred similar protests last week.

The demonstration in Milan remained peaceful, but there were brief clashes with police in both Rome and Turin.

In Milan, thousands of young people marched through the streets as soldiers were deployed and luxury boutiques were boarded up, but by late afternoon, most shops had opened, Italian media reported.

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. In Milan, police detained several minors as a preventive measure, media reported.

While protests in France have claimed most international attention, large demonstrations also rocked many European cities on Saturday, from Milan to Rome to Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana.

The protests encompass a broad range of issues, from education and corruption to anti-war movements, pensions and housing.

In Milan, huge crowds of mostly young people gathered as night fell, chanting insults at 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.

A mayoral hopeful, Pierfrancesco Majorino, who announced his candidacy on Thursday, joined the marchers and remarked on how peaceful the day was, according to Italian media. He will contest a centre-left primary in early 2027. Milan’s centre-left Mayor Giuseppe Sala, who has held the role since 2016, is not running again.

Many stores, particularly luxury boutiques within Milan’s fashion district, including Omega, Tiffany and Gucci, boarded up their front windows. The Apple store also shut down and remained closed even as others reopened.

Rioters last weekend smashed their way into stores, targeting trainers, athletic wear and sporting goods on streets that run off the city’s central Duomo square.

Security measures extended beyond the city centre over concerns that protesters could move into other neighbourhoods.

The protesters ended their march peacefully on Saturday evening outside the Milan Polytechnic, more than three kilometres (two miles) from the city centre.

Officials said on 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 said last week’s violence and looting involved about 2,000 very young protesters, many of them “naturalised, second-generation Italians”, alongside foreign nationals. Over two days, police arrested 45 people, including 34 minors.

A group of about 30 far-right activists, described as hooligans linked to Inter Milan football club, made a brief appearance, chanting anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim slogans, but were isolated by police.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the soldiers deployed on Saturday were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties, and only in areas around train stations, not throughout the city. They are not authorised to carry pepper spray or tasers, he said.

In Rome, security was also heightened, with authorities locking down luxury shopping streets and stepping 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 that 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 place in central Rome. Organisers sought to distance themselves from potential unrest, urging participants to keep their faces uncovered and hands visible.

But it was these marchers who briefly clashed with police near Piazza della Repubblica, even as organisers were trying to hold the crowd back using batons and tear gas. In the end, the protesters pulled back when a water cannon was turned on. They retreated to a location about half a kilometre away.

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 on 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 centre.

High school and university students are demanding lower tuition fees and greater state investment in education, while 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 organised by the opposition outside the prime minister’s office turned violent earlier, with some activists lighting fires on the street.

Rama said on Saturday his government was preparing a response to the students’ demands and called on them to engage in dialogue. He warned that violent protesters would face penalties.

Thousands of retirees and others marched peacefully in Spain’s capital on Saturday to demand that public pensions not be meddled with.

“They are threatening us with privatising pensions. It is just another thing they want to profit from,” said Maria Jose Benito, 68.

The protests came ahead of next month’s snap election as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Party criticised the conservative opposition Popular Party for making overtures about privatising public pensions. Spain has also been roiled by protests this autumn over housing, as rental and home costs have risen in recent years beyond what many Spaniards can afford.

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 they aim to reinforce trust between tenants and landlords and boost the rental market. Protesters claim that the measures are not balanced and put tenants in a more vulnerable position.