Milan witnessed its own eruption of disorder on Saturday as a demonstration against wars and the rising cost of living spiralled into violence.
Masked individuals pelted riot police with stones and paving slabs before constructing barricades from cafe furniture and setting them ablaze.
Officers deployed water cannon and tear gas in response. The LaPresse agency reported at least two police officers sustained injuries and roughly 50 protesters, many of them minors, were taken into custody.
The city’s centre-left mayor, Giuseppe Sala, acknowledged “the reasons for the protests were understandable” whilst insisting “the violence against law enforcement and serious damage to the city are not justifiable”.
In Lisbon, tens of thousands marched through the capital on Saturday to protest housing costs and the broader squeeze on household finances, according to Portugal’s largest trade union, CGTP.
Property prices in the country have soared 130 per cent since 2013, with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre classifying Portugal as “one of the least affordable” EU member states.
Teacher Pedro Penilo said Portugal’s political class is “out of touch with reality”, while Prime Minister Luis Montenegro warned against “importing climates of instability and protest to Portugal, which have no basis in Portuguese society”.
