The chaos and unrest still plaguing France continued to spread to its European neighbors on Saturday.
In Albania, protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Education to demand lower tuition fees, increased public investment in education and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The crowd set fire to the dumpsters and sofa cushions that Rama had placed as a symbolic invitation to dialogue with the students, Euro News reported.
More than 2,500 police officers were deployed to the capital, Tirana, where they fired water cannons on crowds.
Similarly, police used water cannons and tear gas to break barricades erected by students in the streets of Brussels, Belgium.
High-end retailers and luxury boutiques in Brussels have closed their stores, fearing a repeat of last week’s looting and destruction, Euro News reported.
In one incident, protesters attempted to set fire to a pile of rental scooters, road signs and bicycles, but were prevented by police officers, one of whom punched and kicked a protester, Reuters witnesses said.
At least five people were arrested, but police said no major incidents took place.
Protests also broke out in Italy, where stores in Naples, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Milan boarded up their windows in anticipation of the same looting that broke out in France last week.
Milan was particularly on alert, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deploying 500 troops to the city as well as surveillance drones, station checks and rapid intervention units.
Protests turned violent in Rome when demonstrators threw bottles and fireworks at police.
Several road signs were also demolished and defaced, according to Euro News.
In Turin, demonstrators threw stones and smoke bombs at police officers who blocked their passage, and in Florence, they also violently clashed with police.
The unrest prompted the U.S. embassy and consulates in Italy to put the country on alert, urging Americans to avoid Milan’s Piazza Duomo and main shopping streets.
Police deployed tear gas in Turin after some protesters threw stones, bottles and smoke bombs at police.
In Spain, more than 25,000 people took to the streets in Madrid to demand reform of the pension system.
Masked protesters were seen smashing a glass kiosk and starting fires in the streets of Barcelona in wild videos shared on X.
“We already have savages breaking and burning street furniture in Barcelona,” Fatima Martinez, an X user, posted on Saturday.
Jihadists have reportedly called for attacks on protesters and police during demonstrations in Spain and Portugal, EuroNews reported.
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