Tirana, Albania - Thousands of Albanians marched on Saturday for the 42nd night, calling for the resignation of the country's prime minister and protesting a tourism project linked to the Trump family.
The marchers were also protesting a concert Saturday by controversial rapper Kanye "Ye" West, whose antisemitic rhetoric has led to his performances being banned in some European capitals.
Demonstrators waving Albanian flags chanted slogans against both Prime Minister Edi Rama and the rapper. Rama met Ye at his office before the concert, later posting a video of the packed event on social media and giving it a five-star rating.
Thousands of protestors are objecting to the estimated $4.6 billion luxury hotel development linked to President Donald Trump's family because it would be in the environmentally protected area of Zvernec, and the project threatens a nearby lagoon on the Adriatic coast critical to migrating birds.
Developers also hope to transform the uninhabited island of Sazan — once a secret communist military base — into a tourist destination.
Opposition to the project has become a flashpoint for frustrations over perceived corruption. Protesters have called for Rama to step down over what they describe as a lack of transparency.
The movement was dubbed the Flamingo Revolution as the pink birds migrate to a nature reserve where the project is planned. Consequently, many of the protesters carry plastic flamingos at the protests.
Critics of the project have highlighted what they say are serious doubts over the legality of the transactions of investors acquiring the land. Several residents have claimed that the land is theirs by virtue of decades-old deeds.
The country's anti-corruption prosecutor's office, SPAK, has opened an investigation to find out how the land in the protected area of Zvernec was acquired, changed owners, and why its value jumped from $62.7 million to $139 million over only a few months.