Soldiers Guard Milan as Thousands March Across European Cities in Youth-Led Protests

On Saturday evening, soldiers fanned out across Milan while the windows of luxury boutiques stood boarded up, and thousands of mostly young protesters marched through the streets of Italy's fashion and finance capital. It was one week after looters smashed into shops and clashed with police in the same city.

Premier Giorgia Meloni responded with a package of measures. It includes 500 additional soldiers for Milan and tougher penalties for minors, who police say made up a large share of last week's violent protesters. The new troops join hundreds of soldiers already stationed in the city and support about 5,000 police and other security personnel. Authorities also used drone surveillance, checks at railway stations, rapid-response units and online monitoring for calls to violence. Mayor Giuseppe Sala said he fears a repeat and backed sending more soldiers.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto set limits on what the soldiers can do. They were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties, and only around train stations, not citywide. They may not carry pepper spray or tasers.

Marchers chanted insults at Meloni and carried banners such as "No to lies of the state." One group dumped manure outside Italy's energy regulator and burned an oversized symbolic electricity bill, according to local television images. Shops in the fashion district, including Omega, Tiffany and Gucci, covered their front windows. Last weekend's rioters had targeted sneakers, athletic wear and sporting goods on streets running off the Duomo square.

Milan police say about 2,000 very young people took part in last week's violence, many of them "naturalized, second-generation Italians," alongside foreign nationals. Over two days police arrested 45 people, 34 of them minors. Officials said they are investigating a 30-year-old freelance journalist described as the "mastermind" of the newly formed October 17 movement, the main driver of recent protests in Italy. Milan welfare councilor Lamberto Bertolé told the AP that many young people lack a sense of belonging and prospects, and that part of society feels excluded amid social and economic inequality.

In Rome, authorities locked down luxury shopping streets and tightened controls around the Circus Maximus and Piazza del Popolo. Several hundred students demonstrated peacefully to show they were not rioters. Riccardo Ponzio, national president of a far-right student association, said last week's images were terrible for students who want to study and make proposals, and who reject being represented by those who devastate cities. A separate anti-war march crossed central Rome, its organizers urging participants to keep faces uncovered and hands visible. Demonstrations were also called in at least seven other Italian cities.

Elsewhere the mood was harsher. In Tirana, Albania, riot police used water cannons as some protesters set government buildings on fire and threw projectiles; 2,500 officers patrolled. For over a week, protesters have hurled rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks, and police have answered with batons and tear gas. High school and university students want lower tuition, more state investment in education and an end to corruption in the system. Some have joined a wider movement demanding Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama resign. Rama said his government is preparing a response and invited students to dialogue, while warning violent protesters will face penalties.

In Madrid, thousands of retirees and others marched peacefully, with banners reading "protect pensions." Maria José Benito, 68, said they are being threatened with privatization of pensions. The march comes before next month's snap election, with Pedro Sánchez's Socialists accusing the conservative Popular Party of overtures toward privatizing public pensions. Housing costs have also driven protests in Spain this fall.

In Lisbon, housing campaigners marched against government measures that ease the cap on yearly rent increases and make evicting non-paying tenants easier. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro says they build trust between tenants and landlords and boost rentals; protesters say they leave tenants more vulnerable. The pension fight in Spain's election and Meloni's penalties for minors are the next tests to watch.