People have taken to the streets again in dozens of Italian cities to protest against the rising cost of living, as part of a general strike called by grassroots unions.
Tensions escalated during protests across Italy on Friday, with clashes breaking out between demonstrators and police.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Near the Colosseum in Rome, a small group broke away from the main march, erected barricades, tore down road signs and set rubbish bins on fire. Protesters also hurled bottles at police officers, while eight demonstrators were detained.
Authorities closed Piazza Montecitorio and Piazza Colonna, near Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office, as a precaution, deploying riot police to secure the area.
The nationwide demonstrations were organised by grassroots union USB against the rising cost of living and rearmament in Europe.
The protest, under the slogan "Shut everything down", involves workers and students, as well as pensioners, housing rights activists and port workers, who are also striking in around 20 countries against the transport of weapons.
Italian authorities are closely monitoring security, after the recent violence in Milan. The Interior Ministry has been put on alert over the possible infiltration of violent groups into the various marches, amid fears of unrest that could continue throughout the weekend, described as "problematic" by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
"There are alarms, because there is this very insidious way of activating the squares, but nothing different from what we have dealt with so far", Piantedosi said on Thursday.
In this context, the police plan to step up checks and potentially carry out preventive detentions allowed under the latest security decree. As for transport, reports indicate that services are operating only partially as normal.
Where demonstrations are taking place in Italy
In Rome, the march is set to begin mid-morning near Termini station, heading towards the Imperial Forums, with at least 20,000 people expected to take part. Authorities are on high alert along the route, which passes through the historic centre, close to government buildings, the Defence Village at Circus Maximus and the Colosseum area, which was targeted during previous demonstrations.
Hundreds of students gathered nearby, in Piazzale Ostiense, under a slogan referencing the movement that paralysed France, "Le monde est à nous" (The world is ours).
Two marches are taking place in Milan, one organised by students and the other by trade unions and pro-Palestinian activists. They are expected to converge in the morning along Corso Buenos Aires, heading away from the city centre, which was the scene of unrest on 17 and 18 October. There are concerns that demonstrators could try to reach the city's eastern ring road and block traffic, as happened a year ago.
In Turin, a mobilisation organised by USB is taking place, with school and university students, as well as autonomous collectives, joining the march towards the city centre and city hall. The situation is similar in Bologna, while in Naples the demonstration is being led mainly by student movements, which have occupied university buildings and secondary schools in recent days.
In Genoa, dockworkers blocked part of the port area early in the morning using tyres and smoke flares, calling on colleagues from "all over Italy" who "do not want to work for war" to join them. Hundreds of demonstrators also gathered at the entrance to the port of Trieste.