Thousands of people gathered in Milan on Saturday to protest against the Winter Olympics, a day after the opening ceremony in the northern Italian city, as a smaller number of demonstrators threw firecrackers and clashed with police.
A group of about a hundred protesters threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after separating from the main mass of demonstrators in Milan, the host city of the Olympic Games, on Saturday.
Police, equipped with riot gear and shields, responded with water cannons in an attempt to disperse the group, some of whom wore hoods and scarves to cover their faces. Order was restored after a few minutes, N1 reported.
Several rioters were arrested.
Police were on high alert after violent clashes during protests in Turin last weekend, in which more than a hundred police officers were injured.
Reuters reports that more than five thousand people took to the streets of Milan over housing costs and environmental problems.
The protesters carried banners denouncing a range of problems, from the use of artificial snow and the felling of trees, to the housing crisis in Italy's financial and fashion capital.
"The Games are no longer sustainable from an ecological or social point of view, their time has run out," Francesca Misana told AFP.
Critics of the Winter Olympics complain about the impact of the infrastructure on the fragile mountain environment, as well as the widespread use of artificial snow, the production of which is energy and water intensive.
Others argue that for many, Milan has become a city they can no longer live in due to the rising cost of living, due to the influx of wealthy new residents attracted by the tax scheme.
"These Games have been promoted as sustainable and cost-neutral," said Alberto di Monte, one of the organizers of the protests called by unions, housing rights groups and activists.
However, given that these are one of the most geographically spread Games in history - taking place in multiple locations scattered across the Italian Alps - billions have been spent on building roads rather than protecting the mountains, di Monte told AFP.
Meanwhile, Milan has turned into a "Disneyland for tourists." It has hosted a series of major events but has neglected its residents, he added.
"Let's take back the city, liberate the mountains," read one protester's banner, while another, with a picture of a drop of water, read: "The Olympics are draining me."
Protester Giovanni Gaiani has strongly criticized the decision to cut down hundreds of trees to build the controversial Milan-Cortina bobsleigh track.
There were also protests against the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as part of the security of the American delegation.
"Free mountain, less ICE, more glaciers," one of the banners read.
Some demonstrators carried Palestinian flags.
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