By Ira – JBizNews Desk

Thousands of mostly young demonstrators marched through Milan, Rome, Turin and a string of other Italian cities on Saturday in a new wave of protests over the rising cost of living, low wages and government military spending, one week after clashes and looting shook the country. Authorities answered with an exceptional security deployment, sending 500 additional soldiers into Milan and locking down luxury shopping districts in the capital.

The day stayed largely peaceful in Milan, where a march of more than 10,000 people, joined along the way by a separate pro-Palestinian procession, ended outside the Polytechnic University in the evening. But there were brief clashes in Rome, Turin, Bologna and Florence. In Rome, demonstrators confronted a police cordon near Largo di Santa Susanna, throwing bottles and setting off firecrackers; police answered with water cannons and tear gas, and a small group briefly entered the Colosseum before being removed. In Turin, marchers threw stones, bottles and smoke bombs at officers who blocked routes toward the city center. Barricades went up and garbage bins were set alight in Bologna, while in Padua police used water cannons to stop about 40 protesters from occupying the train station.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi had warned there would be “no safe havens” for rioters hiding behind balaclavas. By Saturday night, the national public security department said 9 people had been arrested, 87 formally reported to prosecutors, 371 taken to police stations, 110 of them minors and 69 foreign nationals, and 4,292 identified nationwide. Milan alone accounted for 2,885 identifications and 167 preventive detentions.

Police also carried out more than 150 searches in Milan, Monza and around 20 other cities on Saturday morning as part of investigations into last weekend’s violence. Youssef Siher, a 30-year-old freelance journalist identified as one of the organizers of the self-styled “October 17 Movement” that has driven the protests, was taken in for questioning and later detained on suspicion of incitement to commit crimes. The movement had called for “surprise squares” in eight cities, saying locations would be revealed only half an hour before the start; the arrest appeared to disrupt that plan.

The economic anger behind the marches was on display in Milan’s fashion district, where luxury boutiques including Omega, Tiffany and Gucci boarded up their windows and the Apple store stayed closed all day, a week after rioters smashed into shops selling sneakers, athletic wear and sporting goods near the Duomo. Protesters dumped manure outside Italy’s energy regulator and burned a symbolic oversized electricity bill. Most shops reopened by late afternoon, and Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, had urged businesses to keep their doors open, saying that if panic spreads, everything stops.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government announced tougher penalties for minors, who police said made up a large share of last week’s violent protesters. About 2,000 very young demonstrators were involved in the Oct. 17-18 unrest in Milan, where police arrested 45 people, 34 of them minors, and investigators say this week’s mobilization was coordinated in online groups.

The Italian demonstrations were part of a broader day of protest across Europe, with large marches also reported in Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana. In the Albanian capital, riot police used water cannons on crowds that set government buildings on fire, with some 2,500 officers on the streets. Students there are demanding lower tuition fees and protesting corruption in education, and some have joined calls for Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.

For retailers heading into the crucial pre-Christmas season, a second straight Saturday of boarded storefronts and precautionary closures in one of Europe’s premier shopping districts shows how quickly cost-of-living anger is turning into lost business across the continent. All eyes now turn to whether the October 17 Movement can regroup after the detention of its alleged organizer, and whether Meloni’s tougher penalties calm the streets or fuel the next round of marches.

JBizNews Desk | Milan

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