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Europe

Protests sweep Italian cities amid heavy security presence, some violence reported

2026-10-25

[Reuters] Protests against war and rising living costs took place in major Italian cities on Saturday, with some ‌incidents of violence, a week after unrest erupted across the country.

Authorities deployed a heavy police presence and many shops closed as a precaution against possible damage.

The demonstrations, which ⁠followed clashes last weekend in which protesters fought with police, looted shops and vandalised property, were violent in Turin, Rome and Bologna, with clashes between officers and demonstrators. They were largely peaceful in Milan.

Reuters witnesses did not observe any shops being looted or property ‌vandalised.

After ⁠calls for further demonstrations circulated on social media this week, authorities made extensive security arrangements and deployed large numbers of police officers to prevent ⁠a repeat of last weekend's violence.

Earlier on Saturday, Italian police said they had detained a person allegedly ⁠linked to organising the "October 17 Movement" — last weekend's protests — and had taken them to ⁠police headquarters in Milan for questioning.

From Ynet last week:

Milan riots expose Italy's youth gang crisis as Meloni vows crackdown

Thousands clashed with police, threw bricks and looted luxury stores in Milan; 80% arrested were minors, many from immigrant families; a Tunisian father spoke of his shame as parents waited in tears; Meloni announces measures against ‘Maranza’ gangs

Italian police announced Monday that they had arrested 271 young people involved in Sunday's unrest. Dozens of police officers were injured. Clashes similar to those in Milan also took place in Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin, all in northern Italy, resulting in dozens of arrests. But it was the scenes in Milan that left many Italians angry, outraged and, above all, bewildered, as the level of violence stunned both the authorities and the political establishment.

An extraordinarily high proportion of those arrested, nearly 80%, were minors, according to Italian media reports. Of the 32 suspects brought before a court for detention hearings, 23 were minors and 13 were foreign nationals. According to Corriere della Sera, an astonishing number of those detained were children as young as 11 to 14. Reports and police accounts indicated that radical left-wing activists and students also participated in the riots, including the looting and clashes with police. However, many managed to escape as the violence escalated. Those who were caught were predominantly children who had traveled into the city from Milan's suburbs. A large proportion came from immigrant backgrounds, including families originating in North Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Some were born in Italy to immigrant families that had lived in the country for decades.

IMMIGRANT PARENTS WHO BUILT LIVES IN ITALY: 'I'M ASHAMED'
Corriere della Sera described remarkable scenes Monday outside Milan's central police station, where distraught and embarrassed parents stood waiting for their detained sons to be released. Some had lived in Italy for many years and were well integrated into society, while others barely spoke the language. Many waited in tears, visibly ashamed.

"If my child took part in these riots, I will punish him severely," one father was quoted as saying.

"I break my back every day to earn a living, and I'm ashamed. If my son did what they're saying, he'll pay dearly for it. I'm deeply disappointed in him," said another father of Tunisian origin.

"Where were you? What did you do? I'll tear you apart!" another father reportedly shouted after arriving to collect his arrested son.

"I wish someone had smashed your head in! I'll smash your head in!" one father, tears in his eyes, reportedly shouted at his son after he was released from custody.

Italian media reported that many of the teenagers had flocked to central Milan after seeing the demonstrations begin on Saturday. The protests had originally been planned around the rising cost of living, but as images spread on Instagram and TikTok, young people began traveling into Milan from surrounding towns and cities.
Many of these teenagers, or children, belonged to groups known as "Maranza." The term, Italian slang for groups of children and teenagers who move around together, often dressed in fashionable clothing but displaying aggressive, anti-establishment attitudes,

…in other words entitled, spoilt brats…

has become increasingly familiar across Italy in recent years, particularly in the Milan area. These groups have become a significant part of the city's problem with violence and crime, fueling racist sentiment because many of their members are second- or third-generation immigrants, often from Arab or Eastern European backgrounds.

MASKED 10-YEAR-OLDS WITH CLUBS AND STOLEN SCOOTERS
Many of the children arrested Saturday and Sunday were reportedly associated with these groups. Italian media outlets spoke with some of them, who said they had decided to join the "party" and film everything for TikTok. Some openly boasted about the looting and clashes with police.

Many parents of those arrested said they learned their children had traveled to Milan to participate in the riots only after they were detained. One couple said they initially heard their son had not arrived at school, only to discover later that he had been arrested. Other parents tracked their children's locations through an app and discovered they were at a police station.

The young age of the rioters has shocked many Italians. Journalists covering the unrest documented masked children as young as 10 and 11 riding electric bicycles or scooters, wearing stolen helmets and carrying clubs and metal objects. Some were seen leading groups of teenagers into confrontations with police or raids on stores, stopping along the way to upload footage of the incidents to social media.

Italian media also reported Monday that police had identified members of the organized radical left, associated with Milan's social centers, among the demonstrators. However, many of these activists reportedly left when police began using force to disperse the crowds and restore order.

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