Spider-Man Appears on Statue Amid Red Smoke Ahead of Halloween

[Anchor]

This weekend, which includes Halloween, anti-government protests are scheduled in European countries such as France and Germany, heightening tensions. In Italy, 100,000 students, workers, and others staged large-scale protests in various regions, including the capital city of Rome.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Protesters burn objects and wave flags in a square engulfed in red smoke.

People dressed as Spider-Man hang a banner on a statue.

On the 30th local time, large-scale protests took place in 50 Italian cities, including Rome, Milan, Naples, and Turin.

It is estimated that more than 100,000 people, including high school and university students as well as workers, participated in the demonstrations.

[Bianca Albertini / University Student: As students, we want to join forces with workers to fight in this common struggle in response to high rents and the high cost of living that affects everyone.]

The protesters are mainly demanding that the government ease the cost of living for citizens and increase investment in schools.

In particular, they are blaming the high cost of living on the conservative and far-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while also protesting slowing wage growth and increased defense spending.

[Pietro Cuscimano / Lombardy Regional Representative, USB Trade Union: From our perspective, occupying the ring road is to reaffirm the strength of today's strike slogans against high prices, against war, and against rearmament.]

In France, a third large-scale weekend protest is scheduled following the spread of student demonstrations.

The French government plans to deploy a police force of 70,000, a scale similar to last weekend.

In Germany, a social media group called "GenZ Regelt" has emerged and is reportedly organizing protests in about 30 cities on the 31st.

Led by young people frustrated with political elites ignoring their concerns, 150,000 people have registered to participate so far.

Governments in various countries are keeping their guard up as large-scale protests are anticipated on Halloween Day.

(Video by Kim Jong-mi)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.