OMM Newsroom
Farmers dumped manure in the streets of Turin on Friday as mass demonstrations took place in more than 50 cities across Italy.
Thousands of students and workers protested soaring living costs and the state of public services, including healthcare and education, according to CNN.
Teachers and workers in agriculture, healthcare and other sectors held nationwide strikes and marches in an action led by the anti-capitalist trade union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB).
Transport workers had been due to join the pickets but dropped those plans after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini threatened the sector with sanctions. The USB urged taxi drivers to strike despite receiving the same warning.
The largest rallies were held in Milan, Turin and Rome, where demonstrators of different ages voiced anger at Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing government.
The Interior Ministry said preventive arrests were made ahead of the marches to prevent violence. Clashes between protesters and police nevertheless occurred in some places.
Demonstrators in Milan carried placards with anti-government slogans. One read: “Let’s oust the Meloni government—rebellion is just.” In Naples, some protesters burned photographs of Meloni.
The protests had different demands in different cities. In Genoa, dockworkers mobilized against what they called the “militarization” of the port, seeking to block arms shipments to conflict zones. In nearby Bologna, students called on the government to review education policy.
In Genoa, protesters set off smoke flares and burned tyres at the main intersection between the port and the highway, blocking trucks from leaving the port.
The wave of discontent is not confined to Italy. Protests have swept across Europe in recent weeks, with hundreds of thousands of people calling for government action to ease the cost of living.
Demonstrations in France began in late September, when teachers and students protested a lack of investment in education and poor working conditions. The protests have since expanded to include broader concerns about living costs.
A deepening housing crisis has prompted demonstrations across Spain and Portugal, where activists have set up encampments in central squares in the capitals.
Albania has seen a series of anti-government protests, with thousands taking to the streets over alleged government corruption and to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
In Serbia, youth protests led to the ousting of long-standing leader Aleksandar Vučić last weekend.
