On Friday, thousands of students, workers, and trade union members took to the streets in various Italian cities to protest. Demonstrators demanded better wages, improvements in public services, and relief from rising inflation. Additionally, they strongly opposed the increase in military spending and the use of ports for sending weapons to conflict zones.
This nationwide demonstration was part of a 24-hour national strike organized by the trade union 'Unione Sindacale di Base' (USB), during which protests took place in over 40 cities across Italy. Although most demonstrations remained peaceful, tensions arose in some locations.
Police used water cannons to control the crowds and prevent demonstrators from breaking security barriers. It is noteworthy that these protests occurred several weeks after violent clashes at the beginning of the month, where demonstrators clashed with the police and also vandalized shops.
In Turin, police used water cannons to push back students and left-wing activists who were approaching the security barriers near the prefecture building. In Rome, a large procession of demonstrators passed near the Colosseum, where they announced that they would continue their protest by camping there over the weekend. Some demonstrators placed trash cans on the streets and set them on fire.
Tensions escalated in the evening when a large number of people attempted to march towards parliament. According to the Italian news agency, police resorted to water cannons to disperse the crowd. Furthermore, eight individuals attempting to break the barriers were detained.
A large demonstration was also observed in the port city of Genoa, where approximately 15,000 port workers, students, and other protesters entered the port area. Their protest was part of a broader movement underway in Europe and other regions, wherein demonstrators opposed the use of commercial ports for shipping arms to war-torn areas. Demonstrators also raised the issue of sailors dying in conflicts spanning from the Gulf to the Black Sea.