Europe on high alert after weekend riots

Law enforcement agencies across Europe are braced for more trouble after cost-of-living protests turned violent again on the weekend, leading to more than 1,300 arrests in France, mass unrest in Spain, and turmoil in many other countries.

The latest protests followed several weeks of disquiet across the continent that led to people taking to the streets in opposition to the fast-rising cost of living, underinvestment in schools, a lack of affordable housing, and, in the case of Spain on the weekend, a threatened state pension system. Some protesters have also cited corruption and their opposition to war as reasons for joining demonstrations.

In France, largely peaceful marches ended late on Saturday with confrontations between relatively small groups of protesters and some of the around 70,000 police officers charged with keeping order. Officers fired tear gas and water cannon into the crowds in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Bordeaux.

France's Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez told Agence France-Presse the trouble was largely attributable to "several thousand radical activists" who he said had "gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters".

Jean-Luc Melenchon, who leads the La France Insoumise left-wing political party and who plans to stand in next year's presidential election, complained that French media has focused on the rioters in a bid to discredit the left, while largely ignoring the grievances of peaceful protesters.

He said the riots broke out after the police had created "a setup deliberately designed to provoke chaos".

Public officials said the rioting and looting across France on the weekend was on a smaller scale to unrest the country experienced the previous weekend. But despite that, France's Chambers of Commerce and Industry said the latest disorder had caused "hundreds of millions of euros" in damage.

France's Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people took part in protests across the country on Saturday. Trade unions said the number was more like 800,000.

After weeks of such unrest, hundreds of people have already been jailed across the country for acts of vandalism, arson, and looting.

At the same time as the rioting in France, more than 120 people were arrested in Barcelona, Spain at a massive student-led protest. And in the Spanish capital Madrid, protesters took to the streets to demand the linkage of state pensions to the rate of inflation and to oppose the possible privatization of state pensions.

There were also major demonstrations and riots in Albania's capital Tirana, where police used tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters. And there were clashes in Brussels, Belgium and Lisbon, Portugal, where protesters demanded access to affordable housing.

In Milan, Italy hundreds of soldiers helped the police keep order as massive crowds of demonstrators complained about fast-rising fuel prices and the oppressive cost of living.

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