Symbolic imageNearly 1,300 arrests in France as protests spread to Spain and Italy
French police arrested 1,314 people after a second weekend of cost-of-living and school protests. Unrest also hit Barcelona and Italian cities.
On Saturday, 24 October, 410,000 people marched across France, slightly fewer than a week earlier, according to the interior ministry. More than 100,000 were in Paris, where authorities rerouted the march to wide boulevards on the city's edge. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said the marches went well, with isolated clashes only in the evening. The ministry counted 1,314 arrests, 75 attempted arsons, 24 lootings and 53 injured police officers, and Nuñez cited two seriously injured rioters, in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand. Reuters reports that protest groups are demanding more rallies.
Youth riots in Barcelona
Youth rioting in Barcelona on Saturday led to about 100 arrests. Handelsblatt reported chaos in the city.
Italy defies protest bans
In Milan, thousands defied a protest ban and chanted French slogans, Le Monde reports. Rallies there stayed calm, but clashes with police occurred in Rome, Turin and Bologna. Breitbart reports that about 500 people breached the Colosseum and that police arrested the alleged organiser of the previous week's Milan riots. Giorgia Meloni's government says its expanded police powers prevented wider disorder.
Other opinions
Le Monde highlights police violence in Italy, while Breitbart calls the French movement "Islamo-Leftist" and credits Italy's tough laws.