Demonstrators accused institutional landlords, such as banks and insurance companies, of being responsible for high rents, followed by politicians, who the organisers said had close links with the property industry.
Left-wing and far-left groups were behind the demonstration. Representatives of the radical left were the most vocal with anti-capitalist and anti-police slogans.
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Near the Europaallee, several demonstrators threw beer cans and water bottles at police officers along the route.
A Google office in the area was also the target of protesters’ beer cans and paint, according to a Keystone-ATS journalist present. Several demonstrators damaged a window at the entrance. Hooded individuals also sprayed tags along the march.
Traffic disrupted
The squatter scene was very much in evidence. Members of the Zurich Revolutionary Youth unfurled banners on the Lindenhof and set off fireworks. Residents of the “Sugus houses”, whose leases have been terminated, also turned out in force.
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The demonstration, which lasted two and a half hours, started in the city centre, passed via the railway station and ended at Helvetiaplatz. Car and public transport traffic was disrupted in the afternoon.
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