Violence during protests is also a concern in Italy

As in France, there were nationwide protests in Italy on Saturday against, among other things, the high cost of living - and there were violent riots here too. A focus of the clashes was the northern Italian metropolis of Milan, where black-clad, masked youths threw fireworks and bottles at the police in the central Piazza Duomo and set up barricades, as the Ansa news agency reported.

In Milan alone, at least four police officers and 20 demonstrators were injured and over 50 young people were arrested. Half of them were minors, as Ansa further reported. In other cities such as Turin, Bologna and Bergamo there were also clashes in which stones and fireworks were thrown at the police.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence. She wrote on Platform X that she had great respect for the thousands of people who demonstrated peacefully. "Demonstrating is a right, but setting our cities on fire is not."

The mayor of the economically strong Milan, Giuseppe Sala, also condemned the riots, but also expressed understanding for the discontent of many people. "The reasons for the protest were understandable. But the violence against the police and the serious damage to the city cannot be justified," he said.

The violence overshadowed the protests called by the country's largest trade union federation and more than a hundred associations. In Rome, for example, many people demanded higher wages, better health care and more investment in the education system.

In the south of Italy, truck drivers, freight forwarders and farmers also demonstrated against high diesel prices. People with low to middle incomes in particular are heavily burdened by inflation and high petrol and diesel prices, while real wages stagnate. There is also a lack of affordable housing in metropolitan areas.

There were also protests in other European countries. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in central Lisbon on Saturday against the cost of living and the housing crisis in Portugal. The country's largest union, CGTP, called for the rally. According to them, there were tens of thousands of activists in the capital. Police gave no estimates.

As in the Spanish capital Madrid, a protest camp against the housing crisis was set up in Lisbon. According to the AFP news agency, hundreds of people gathered in Rossio Square on Saturday evening and set up dozens of tents. The demonstration followed days of growing unrest. In Porto, the police cleared a tent camp of activists at dawn on Monday.

In the Belgian capital Brussels, police used tear gas against youths who threw bottles and other objects, AFP reported. Belgium's Interior Ministry spoke of "organized violence". The rally, which was attended by hundreds of people, was previously called for on online services. Here too, the protests were directed against the high cost of living.