Rome demonstrators storm Colosseum as Europe's youth protests spread

Thousands of people rallied over the weekend in Italy despite a crackdown by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government.

Police said they arrested nine people and briefly detained 371 more, including 110 minors.

Youth-led protests across Europe in recent weeks have demanded government action on housing, the cost of living and education.

Thousands of people have rallied over the weekend in Italy despite a sweeping government crackdown, with some protesters briefly breaking into the Colosseum in Rome.

Thousands of young people marched through Italian cities, including Milan, Rome and Turin, on Saturday.

Police said they arrested nine people and briefly detained 371 more, including 110 minors, who were taken to police stations in eight cities as clashes broke out at some protests.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government approved tough security measures this week and police had carried out dozens of searches and arrests in advance of the rallies.

"Marching is a right. We need to make our voices heard," Alessio Scimone, a 24-year-old betting shop worker and one of the protesters in Milan, told AFP.

The demonstrations are part of a wave of protests by students, truck drivers and farmers over cost-of-living issues such as housing and fuel prices.

Italy's Culture Ministry said no damage to the Colosseum site or injuries had been reported following the protesters' entry.

Later in the evening, clashes erupted between protesters and police elsewhere in central Rome, with officers using water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Authorities deployed soldiers in Milan, where previous protests turned violent, but demonstrations there remained peaceful.

Protests spread across Europe

Youth-led movements have taken to the streets in recent weeks across Europe to demand action on a range of issues from education, housing and the cost of living to the war in Gaza.

Protests have erupted in countries including Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Albania.

Smaller demonstrations have also been held in Greece, Austria, Ireland and Germany over the past few weeks.

Nationwide protests in France have drawn the most attention, with hundreds of thousands rallying over the weekend in a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron.

In Serbia, two years of student-led protests against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism led to the ousting of President Aleksandar Vučić in parliamentary elections on Sunday.