Thousands spoke in Italian cities against cost of living

Mislanders of people have today demonstrated in the main Italian cities against rising cost of living, prices of homes and military expenses, protests accompanied by a strong police device after the riots last weekend in Milan.

The demonstrations traveled through cities such as Rome, Milan, Turin, Naples, Bologna and Florence with great police surveillance, train station controls and preventive safety in commercial areas due to fear of new looting.

One of the most tense moments occurred in Bologna (north), where an initially peaceful demonstration degenerated just before 18h00 locals (17h00 in Lisbon), in clashes with the police.

Groups of protesters began throwing stones and bottles at agents, who responded with water cannons to disperse the crowd.

In Turin (north), thousands of people marched from Piazza Castello, which exhibited ‘slogans’ and led insults against the government, in a demonstration where there were clashes and moments of tension with police forces.

Among the tracks, one could read “the people were reduced to hunger”, while a group of protesters burned a large photograph of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In Milan, the country's economic capital and where there were serious disturbances last week, hundreds of students marched escorted at all times by police officers.

The city continues with a strong security device, being deployed in Milan 1,400 police officers and 500 military sent by the government.

In Rome this afternoon a peaceful demonstration against the war took place, from Republic Square towards the Imperial Forums, and a spontaneous protest by hundreds of young people and students who were closely guarded by a strict security perimeter.

Prior to the protest, the Italian police identified more than 200 young people in the capital and took 63 of them to the police stations after being seized hoods, masks, aerosols and camouflage material.

The security measures in Italy were reinforced following the serious riots and looting in Milan last Saturday, which led the authorities to intensify surveillance due to the fear of further episodes of violence.

The day was still marked by the arrest, this morning, of the alleged founder of “Movement 17 October”, an anonymous collective that emerged following the riots in Milan and had more than 40,000 followers on the Instagram social network.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced on social network X the arrest of this 30-year-old man, journalist and activist in the “pro-Palestinian” context, whom he described as “the alleged mentor” of the platform.