Eight Cities, Drones Overhead: Italy's Protests Return Under Watch

Italy prepared for a second consecutive weekend of demonstrations against budget cuts and the rising cost of living on Saturday, with rallies planned in eight cities including Rome and Milan, according to France 24. The network reported that authorities announced heavy security measures, including drones and helicopters to monitor the marches, after unrest the previous weekend.

The Local Italy reported that security forces deployed across the country ahead of the planned protests while police carried out what it described as a sweeping crackdown in the wake of the earlier violent clashes. Euronews reported that soldiers were patrolling Milan's streets and that shops had boarded up their windows a week after looting and confrontations with police.

Le Monde reported that thousands of people protested despite the heavy security presence, and that the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had approved tough security measures, with police carrying out dozens of searches and arrests in advance of the rallies. The Guardian's live coverage of Saturday's Europe-wide protests noted that Italian officers had raided homes in Milan.

The Italian protests were part of a wider European day of action. The Guardian reported that hundreds of thousands marched in France, where police made 1,000 arrests, with protests also taking place in Spain and Albania. Al Jazeera reported that police clashed with demonstrators in France, Italy and Spain over rising living costs and cuts to public services.

In Rome, Euronews reported that young protesters clashed with police on Saturday as demonstrations over wages, the cost of living and public services spread across the country. The New York Times reported that Italy's young protesters had returned to the streets hoping to make their message heard after violence overshadowed the previous weekend's demonstrations, describing them as fed up with the political establishment and rising costs.

The foreign press has framed the unrest in generational terms. France 24 broadcast a discussion with sociologist Gökçe Tuncel, who argued that the youth-led protests in France, Albania, India and Italy signal more than a succession of local grievances. The Guardian, in an editorial, argued that Europe's social contract has broken and that young people want solutions, noting that an electoral supercycle over the coming year may redefine the continent's future.

Separately, The Local Italy reported that lawmakers in the European Parliament demanded an urgent EU investigation into the role of social media during protests in member states including France, adding that Brussels should be prepared to block access as a last resort. That demand, reported on Saturday, points to a debate over platform regulation that runs alongside the street protests themselves.

Not all of Italy's recent disruption was on the streets of the big cities. The Local Italy reported on Saturday that truck drivers had ended protests that paralysed southern Italy for the past week, as the last picket lines in Campania were dismantled and deliveries to supermarkets resumed, following the extension of fuel aid. France 24 had earlier reported that truckers were blocking refineries and key roads over soaring diesel prices, and that the government had warned of criminal penalties for those blocking roads.