Albanian police use tear gas and water cannon at resort protest

Albanian police used tear gas and water cannon outside parliament on 23 July 2026 during protests against a planned tourism project linked to the Trump family.

Albanians have held daily protests since late May against the proposed construction of a large luxury hotel complex in a coastal nature reserve. The project is linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the daughter and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

Police deployed in force from early morning in Tirana and used water cannon and tear gas to push back demonstrators who tried to break through security cordons near parliament. The health ministry said six police officers and 11 protesters were slightly injured and treated at a hospital in Tirana.

The latest protest began before a parliamentary vote on approving a four-million-euro, or $4.6-million, subsidy for a Kanye West concert held in Tirana earlier in July. Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Belind Kellici said parliament approved the subsidy during a chaotic session. He said it was backed by 80 lawmakers, all from the ruling Socialist Party, in the 140-seat assembly.

Prime Minister Edi Rama had earlier pledged the funding, saying it was needed to prevent the concert from being cancelled. The decision further angered protesters who were already demonstrating against the resort plan, which has become a focus for concerns about perceived corruption and a lack of government transparency.

The planned luxury tourist complex would be built in a protected heritage site among flamingo colonies and on a nearby uninhabited island. Scientists and activists say preliminary work has already caused irreparable damage to a previously pristine part of Albania's coast and destroyed nesting sites for birds and loggerhead turtles, which are threatened with extinction.

Olsi Nika, a marine biologist who heads the NGO EcoAlbania, said earlier in the week that the damage from preliminary construction work was an "absolute biodiversity massacre".

No official crowd counts have been released for the nightly protests. Journalists at the demonstrations estimated that crowds numbered in the thousands until at least mid-July.