Social protests in Europe: For good education, affordable rents and moderate prices

dpa | At protests in several European countries, people have once again demonstrated against the high cost of living. Riots broke out in some cities. There were violent clashes over the weekend in France, Albania, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Belgium.

In France, according to the Interior Ministry, around 410,000 people took part in the nationwide protests on Saturday, including around 110,000 in Paris. The young people who have been demonstrating for weeks for better equipment in schools were joined by other groups to demonstrate against high living costs.

In many places the protests were peaceful.

According to the authorities, 1,314 people were arrested on the sidelines of the demonstrations. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 53 police officers were injured. The emergency services took action against 75 attempted arsons and there were 24 lootings.

According to the Interior Minister, the actual demonstrations went smoothly. Nevertheless, riots broke out again on the sidelines of the protest marches. Images from Paris showed clouds of tear gas and fireworks as well as the use of water cannons. The situation was similar in Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille. The minister particularly blamed the “radical extreme left, the ultra-left”. In Nice, the public prosecutor's office also reported the arrest of eleven members of a right-wing extremist group.

In Albania, too, violence broke out again during protests against abuses in the higher education system and against the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Demonstrators in the capital Tirana threw stones at government buildings and the police, the state news agency ATA reported. The situation escalated when protesters set the Environment Ministry on fire. Chaotic scenes could be seen on television images and on social media.

According to ATA, the protest, organized by students among others, began on Saturday in front of the Ministry of Education and spread to other ministries and parts of the city. According to the private television station Klan, demonstrators also threw fireworks and Molotov cocktails. Police reportedly used water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Accordingly, there were injuries on both sides. Officials also attacked the Klan News camera team, it said.

In Barcelona, ​​hundreds of teenagers and young adults reportedly gathered in protests on Saturday evening and into the night. Young people damaged street furniture, bicycles and motorbikes, looted shops and set garbage containers on fire, reported the Spanish daily newspaper El País and the Catalan television station Betevé, among others. The exact aim of the protests was therefore unclear.

The Catalan police and the municipal police in the capital of Catalonia arrested around 100 demonstrators. About a quarter of those arrested were minors. According to reports, the young people responded to a call on social media for an unannounced demonstration in the city center.

The Prime Minister of the wealthy region in northeastern Spain, Salvador Illa, condemned the violence: "Violence has no place in Catalonia. Never. Protesting is a democratic right. Attacks, intimidation and damage to property are not," he said, according to El País.

In Belgium there were also smaller demonstrations in Brussels and Liège. According to Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, these ended without any major incidents. Around 400 people took part in the capital Brussels, as the Belga news agency reported. Accordingly, there were nine arrests for disturbing public order as well as possession of weapons and inciting violence. Last weekend there were 150 arrests.

Thousands of people demonstrated again in several major Italian cities. At some protests there were clashes between demonstrators and police. Nine arrest warrants were issued and 317 people were arrested. The various protests covered a wide range of issues, including high costs of living, gasoline prices, as well as rearmament and the Middle East conflict.

In the northern Italian metropolis of Milan, where there were serious riots last weekend, the protests largely took place without any major incidents. Many luxury stores were barricaded due to fears of riots.

In the capital Rome, there was tension in the center in the evening: the police used water cannons. Police helicopters circled over the area of ​​Termini central station. In the historic center, protest participants broke into the Colosseum. In Bologna, police used tear gas and water cannons in clashes with demonstrators. In Turin, security forces pushed back protest participants with shields.

In Portugal, numerous people protested in Lisbon and Porto for the right to housing. According to the Lusa news agency, police arrested 25 people in the capital. There were clashes between demonstrators and security forces during the protests around Rossio Square.