New clashes pitted police against demonstrators in Rome on Saturday evening protesting against restrictions imposed to counter an alarming rise in Covid-19 contaminations, after similar incidents the day before in Florence.
Demonstrations for the same reasons, interspersed with violence and degradation, were already held at the beginning of the week in Rome, Naples, Milan and Turin.
VIDEO. Covid-19: New restrictions trigger protests in Italy
In the early evening on Saturday, a rally at Campo dei Fiori, Rome's famous square, escalated when some of the hundreds of protesters in attendance threw bottles and firecrackers at police, who dispersed them in riot gear.
A second gathering in Rome ended in the same way.
🇮🇹 ALERT - Virulent clashes are raging in #Rome on the sidelines of an anti- #coverFire demonstration.
The demonstrators violently attack the police.
(🎥Witnesses) #coronavirus #Roma #Rome # COVID19 pic.twitter.com/qPRkWWvXXB
- Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) October 24, 2020
As of Friday evening, the situation had already escalated in Florence, where around 20 people were arrested during an unauthorized demonstration of around 200 people.
Some protesters threw Molotov cocktails, bottles and stones at police, knocked over trash cans and smashed surveillance cameras.
"We lived a surreal, terrible and painful night in Florence," wrote the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, on his Facebook page on Saturday morning.
“This is not how we express our grievances, this is not how we express our suffering.
It is only violence for violence, free ”.
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According to the general secretary of the Florence police union, Riccardo Ficozzi, troublemakers are “delinquents” who do not represent those who wanted to demonstrate legally.
Overflows in several other cities
These spillovers in Florence, but also in other Italian cities, are the work of "violent extremists who try to exploit the social and economic malaise in these difficult times", declared the Minister of the Interior, Luciana Lamorgese, in the newspaper Il Foglio.
According to him, these are mainly young people with a criminal past, hooligans and far-right activists who "seek to take advantage of legitimate demonstrations".
In Bologna (north-east), 80 km away, a few hundred people also demonstrated on Friday evening, mostly young men including hooligans, some making the fascist salute, reported the daily La Repubblica.
Video footage shows the newspaper's video reporter sharply attacked and chased away.
“Journalist, terrorist!
Cried the crowd.
New contamination record
Italy registered 31,758 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, a new record.
The government has imposed in recent days what the media qualify as "semi-containment": a curfew in several large regions, the closure of bars and restaurants at 6 p.m., as well as that of sports halls, cinema and the concert.
VIDEO. Naples: violence during an anti curfew demonstration
Painful measures for a country which must experience its worst recession this year since World War II, but essential according to the government.
The latter, according to Italian media, is considering confinement of the country's major cities, starting with Milan and Naples, to try to curb the contaminations.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte could announce these new measures on Monday, according to the media, which also refers to a ban on movement between the different regions and the closure of shops in urban “red zones”.
Saturday morning, the president of Campagnie (south) signed a new decree closing schools until November 14.