2026 Italian unrest

Organisers

Italia in Piazza was among the main organisers of the 16–17 October protests, coordinating demonstrations through regional Telegram groups and promoting them on TikTok and Instagram. Following the unrest, the 17 October Movement emerged as a separate, self-described leaderless network, circulating protest guides, including one inspired by Egypt's 2011 revolution and the Arab Spring. On 24 October, police detained Youssef Siher, suspected of organising the movement. Other demonstrations involved student groups and school occupations, Fedralog's transport stoppage in Calabria, the Comitato Trasporto Siciliano, and agricultural organisations including Granosalus and the Comitato Agricolo Materano.^[18][19]

16 October

On 16 October, student demonstrations took place across Italy under the slogan “No Meloni Day”. The protests focused on the condition of school buildings, education funding, military expenditure, immigration policies affecting schools, and solidarity with French students.

Demonstrations were reported in Rome, Milan, Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Venice, Padua, Treviso, Cagliari and other cities. The nationwide mobilization followed several days of school occupations and student-organized actions.^[20]

In Turin, demonstrators threw eggs at police and clashes were reported between some protesters and officers. In Rome, some demonstrators threw firecrackers near the Ministry of Education, while flags of the United States and Israel were burned during a march. In Pisa, students at the Scuola Normale Superiore disrupted an academic-year opening ceremony.^[21]

The demonstrations coincided with climate mobilizations involving Fridays for Future and with a school-sector strike. Police unions reported that officers had been injured during confrontations in Rome and Turin. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence while the government defended the police response.^[22]

At the same time, a separate wave of protests by truck drivers and farmers spread across southern Italy in response to rising diesel prices and production costs. In Calabria, the transport stoppage organized by Fedralog began, with approximately 15 protest sites established near major roads and transport hubs, including the port of Gioia Tauro and the area around Lamezia Terme airport. In Sicily, the Comitato Trasporto Siciliano began a five-day stoppage of freight transport services.

In Puglia, agricultural and transport protests had already been underway for several days. In the province of Foggia, farmers, olive growers and truck drivers continued their demonstrations. A convoy of approximately 500 lorries travelled along the SS379 between Brindisi and Bari, while farmers and agricultural workers participated in demonstrations in Cerignola and other towns. Olive growers also protested in Corato.

The stoppages caused traffic disruption and contributed to fuel shortages at service stations in parts of southern Italy. The government called for the restoration of normal goods distribution and sought discussions with transport representatives.^[23][24][25]

17 October

On 17 October, demonstrations against the cost of living and other social issues continued, with serious clashes reported in Milan and Bologna.^[26][27]

In central Milan, a demonstration that had initially proceeded peacefully escalated after groups of masked protesters broke away from the march. Some threw stones and other objects at riot police, damaged shop windows and set fire to makeshift barricades. Police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the area around Piazza del Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Shops closed and the Duomo metro station was temporarily shut during the clashes.^[26][27][28]

In Bologna, police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators after a protest turned violent. Reuters, citing Italian media reports, reported seven arrests in the city. Several people were reported injured in the incidents in Milan, and arrests were also made there.^[26][27]

The unrest occurred alongside wider protests over rising living costs and deteriorating public services. The incidents intensified debate about the distinction between peaceful demonstrations and acts of violence. Meanwhile, the protests by truck drivers and farmers continued across Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata and Sicily. In Calabria, lorries remained stationed along the SS18 coastal road and at approximately 15 protest sites. Although the vehicles caused delays, reports indicated that the demonstrations did not consistently involve complete road closures.^[26][27]

In Puglia, farmers, olive growers and transport workers maintained a protest site near the Poggio Imperiale motorway junction in the province of Foggia. Some participants discussed taking their demonstrations to Rome to draw the national government's attention to their demands.^[26][27]

In Basilicata, agricultural groups, including the Comitato Agricolo Materano and the national association Granosalus, supported demonstrations concerning rising production costs, falling prices received by farmers and reductions in agricultural support payments. Tractors and lorries also remained mobilized near Scanzano Jonico.^[26][27]

The agricultural protests overlapped with the truckers' campaign against diesel prices, although the two movements had distinct demands. Agricultural organizations also announced further demonstrations for the following week, including planned actions in L'Aquila and Rome.^{[26][27][29][30]}

18 October

On 18 October, further clashes took place in Milan during demonstrations against rising living costs and inadequate public services.

According to Reuters, several hundred hooded demonstrators broke shop windows and set rubbish bins on fire near Piazza del Duomo. Police in riot gear responded with tear gas and water cannons. More than 60 people were taken to police stations for further checks.^[31]

A police report cited by Reuters stated that 28 people had been arrested following the clashes on Saturday, 17 October, in Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin. These figures refer to the previous day's incidents, rather than arrests made exclusively on Sunday.^[31]

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence and announced a government meeting for Monday, 19 October, to discuss the situation and possible responses. The clashes increased pressure on the government to address public-order concerns while the protests' underlying economic and social grievances remained a subject of public debate. At the same time, the transport stoppages in Sicily and Calabria remained in effect as part of the five-day action scheduled to end on 20 October. The protests continued to affect the movement of goods, while shortages of fuel and concerns about deliveries remained significant issues in parts of southern Italy.^[31]

Farmers' and agricultural associations' grievances continued to centre on diesel prices, rising production costs and the gap between the prices received by producers and the costs of farming. However, available reports do not establish a separate nationwide agricultural strike specifically organized for 18 October. The documented agricultural actions were part of ongoing regional mobilizations.^[31][32][33]

19 October

On 19 October, the Italian government announced plans to send 500 military personnel to Milan following the weekend's unrest. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the deployment would be part of a wider security package. Fearing further violence, shops in Milan's luxury shopping district closed early or boarded up their windows. Police said 271 people had been detained during Sunday's unrest, including 23 minors, and that 32 people had been arrested. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence, as the government considered further measures to address youth disorder.^[34]

20 October

In Calabria, truck drivers and agricultural workers kept up their protests on 20 October over high fuel prices and the rising cost of living. In Vibo Valentia, shops stayed shut and market stalls sat empty as deliveries were disrupted, while residents joined peaceful demonstrations at the San Onofrio crossroads.^[37] 17 October Movement announced its next meeting to be on 24 October 2026 in Milan, Bologna, Turin, Rome, Florence, Padua, Bari, and Genoa.^[38] The movement also distributed copies of the 2004 book "Recipes for Chaos" and its own book "Safer in the Streets."^[38]

The truckers’ protests disrupted the distribution of goods in southern Italy. On 20 October, the Associated Press reported that some supermarket shelves and fuel pumps in Naples were empty, while shortages of certain food products were also reported in Sicily, Calabria and Puglia. Diesel prices were roughly one-third higher than before the Iran war. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini met with representatives of trucking associations and promised tax credits to offset fuel costs, as well as funding to modernize trucking fees and measures to address operating costs.^[39]

The disruption also affected food deliveries. Reuters reported on 21 October that delayed shipments had left perishable goods, including fruit, vegetables, milk and meat, stranded in trucks and warehouses. The protests also disrupted aviation fuel supplies at two regional airports in southern Italy.^[40]

22 October

The neo-fascist party New Force confirmed on 22 October that on 23 October a counterprotest in Forlì was organized against the violence of the previous week.^[10]

23 October

On 23 October 2026, following security reinforcements by the government and law enforcement, the 17 October Movement decided to withdraw its previously planned locations and stated that it would communicate three gatherings in each city they operated in at the "last moment", specifically at 14:30 CET, 30 minutes before they had planned their gathering in their original places.^[41][42][43]

On the same day, in the afternoon, 500 military troops, from the 186th Paratroopers Regiment "Folgore", arrived in Milan, bringing drones and VTLM Lince vehicles (already used in the War in Afghanistan) to support operations in the following days.^[44][45]

At the same time, the blockade by truck drivers and farmers in southern Italy comes to an end. The full restoration of pre-blockade conditions is expected to take several weeks.^[46]

24 October

It had been reported that the shops around the nation had taken precautions in the past days and in the early morning as to prevent vandalism and the government confirmed that the 17 October Movement protest was not authorized.^[47] RAI News reported that the Forza Nuova protest, announced the prior day in Forlì, had officially been authorized by law enforcement.^[48]

1,500 people participated in a right-wing counterprotest dubbed "Sblocchiamo tutto" (Unblock everything), which ended at 15:00 CET in Rome. A protest numbering around 200 highschoolers took place in Turin. At around 15:12 CET a protest numbering hundreads of individual started making its way from Piazza della Repubblica. Meanwhile, in Milan, anti muslim chants started to be chanted by unknown gathering of people that paraded the streets of the city.^[49]

By 15:30 CET, Sky TG24 noted how whilst in Bologna and Bari the 17 October Movement spots were announced (in the University district of the city in Bologna, and the central area of the city in Bari), Milan's own areas had yet to be announced by then, and no protest had taken place yet.^[6] 300 people gathered for the protests in Naples' Piazza Garibaldi by 15:40 CET, some dressed entirely in black.^[50]

Various clashes between the police and the protests were recorded in Turin with charges by the police and the protests throwing firecrackers, rocks and glass bottles at law enforcement. Some of the members in the protests were dressed in black and wore a hoodie, whilst some other burnt a photo of PM Giorgia Meloni.^[51] In Florence a spontaneous protest occurred. The protest, initially peaceful, erupted in clashes when it met a police contingent in Via Tornabuoni. Clashes occurred from around 17:40 to 21 in the areas of Via Tornabuoni and Ponte Santa Trinita, with protesters throwing bottles and rocks at police officers, who charged the group multiple times.^[52]

Also according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, in Bologna the police charged at the protesters and chased them by pushing them towards Via Marconi, away from Piazza dei Martiri, with a recorded use of a hydrant; a part of the people participating in the protests responded by throwing firecrackers.^[50] In Bologna multiple clashes occurred between the police and the protesters, after a group of them separated from the main gathering and headed to via Marconi and Piazza dei Martiri, with rioters throwing bottles, building barricades and setting fire to dumpsters and bikes. Multiple stores were also damaged in the clashes, that went on from the late afternoon until late that evening. In Bologna in total 17 people were injured, including a carabiniere that suffered moderate injuries and a protestor that fell ill and had to be transported to the hospital in an ambulance.^[53]

At around 18 CET, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the various protests in Rome remained fully peaceful, although some of them, expecially the spontaneous ones, escalated later. A group of protesters occupied the Colosseum and then moved towards the Termini Station. At 19:00 CET protests in Rome blocked the entrance to the Termini station causing clashes broke out with the police. At Termini protesters threw bottles, stones, firecrackers and road signs to the police, which activated its hydrants.^[54]

By 18:55 CET around 5,000 people were counted at the spontaneous protest in Milan, with people tearing down a Lega manifesto and directing insults to Matteo Salvini. Protests also occurred in Pescara, during which, the ultras of Delfino Pescara 1936 participated in support. By 19:20 CET it had been reported that two protests in Milan joined together, forming a joint protest of 10,000 people which included Pro-Palestinian groups and student protests.^[6] Protests, largely peaceful, also occurred in Naples, Bari, Padua and Lucca.^[55]

Government security measures

Italy has rolled out a new decree to crack down on violent protests. Under the plan, a new offence—"violent participation in a demonstration"—would carry up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as €20,000 (around $22,500). The penalties get tougher if protesters hide their faces or if anyone gets hurt. The decree also makes protesters foot the bill for any damage they cause. Parents would be held responsible for damage done by their underage children. On top of that, anyone over 14 would automatically be presumed to understand what they're doing unless proven otherwise—a call that used to be left to a judge. The government also promised more beds in detention centres and more judges for the juvenile justice system. Parliament now has 60 days to turn the decree into law.^[56]

Requests of reparations

General Roberto Vannacci, leader of the neo-fascist^[57] National Future party argued for a zero tolerance policy on vandalism during the protests and proposed that the rioters were to pay for the damages inflicted on private and public property during the protests.^[58]

Propaganda and disinformation

On October 19, 2026, Monica Castro, a local city councillor for Calenzano representing National Future, posted a digitally altered image of a student demonstration on her social media accounts. The original photograph, taken during a student protest in Cagliari, showed demonstrators holding a banner that read "Soldi alla scuola, non alla guerra" ("Money for school, not for war"). In the version shared by Castro, the banner had been modified using artificial intelligence software to display a grammatically incorrect slogan: "Soldi alla scuola, Meloni ha casa" (using the verb "ha" [has] instead of the preposition "a" [to/at/go]). Castro captioned the post with the ironic comment, "Andateci. A scuola" ("Go there. To school"). Critics and media outlets pointed out that the image was a fabricated counterfeit intended to misrepresent the students as uneducated and discredit the motivations of the protest.^[59][60]

Matteo Salvini

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who leads the right-wing League party, announced the 500-strong deployment on social media. "From words to action: 500 more troops to defend Milan," he wrote. Salvini claimed the rioters had deliberately set out to clash with police, and rejected economic hardship as any kind of justification. "This is not social distress," he insisted, and instead called for tougher laws — ones that would allow minors to be held preventively and arrests to be made based on video footage of looters.^[61]