Protesters slam Milano Cortina costs, environmental impact

VIDEO SHOWS: PROTESTERS MARCHING AGAINST MILANO CORTINA WINTER OLYMPICS RESENDING WITH CORRECTED SLATE SHOWS: MILAN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 7, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF POLICE PRESENCE AHEAD OF PROTESTERS 2. POLICE/ PROTESTER HOLDING FLAG OF ITALIAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION FLAG 3. BANNER AT FRONT OF  MARCH READING (Italian): ""Let's retake the cities. Let's liberate the mountains. Unsustainable Olympic committee." 4. PALESTINIAN FLAGS AND ANTI-ZIONIST PROPAGANDA FROM YOUNG PALESTINIANS ITALY (GPI) GROUP 5. PROTESTERS DANCING TO ELECTRONIC MUSIC 6. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WITH PALESTINIAN FLAGS AT FRONT OF MARCH 7. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER AND CHANTING, INCLUDING PHRASE (Italian) "Milano Cortina, racketeering and destruction" 8. VARIOUS OF FLARES AND FIRE CRACKERS GOING OFF 9. VARIOUS OF POLICE VEHICLES STORY: Thousands of people took to the streets of Milan on Saturday (February 7) in a protest over housing costs and environmental concerns on the first full day of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The march, organised by grassroots unions, housing‑rights groups and social centre community activists, is seeking to highlight what activists call an increasingly unsustainable city model marked by soaring rents and deepening inequality. The Olympics cap a decade in which Milan has seen a property boom following the 2015 World Expo, with locals squeezed by soaring living costs as an Italian tax scheme for wealthy new residents, alongside Brexit, draws professionals to the financial capital. Some groups also argue that the Olympics are a waste of public money and resources pointing to infrastructure projects they say have damaged the environment in mountain communities. A banner stretched across the street read: "Let's take back the cities, let's free the mountains." The International Olympic Committee (IOC) points out that the Games are largely using existing facilities, making them more sustainable. According to police estimates, more than 5,000 people were taking part in the march. Protesters set off from the Medaglie d'Oro central square to cover nearly four kilometres (2.5 miles) to end in Milan's south‑eastern quadrant of Corvetto, a historically working‑class district. (Production: Noemie Olive, Leonardo Benassatto, Conal Quinn)

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