2020 March The
Catholic clergy in Italy took to posting video messages in response to the
lockdown policies and the re-opening policies that have been slowly introduced in Italy as the pandemic infection rates have decreased. Giovanni D'Ercole, bishop of
Ascoli Piceno in the
Marche region, claimed in a video that the inability for
religious institutions to hold services outside of funerals was like a dictatorship. This also involved
Pope Francis, that tried to pour oil on troubled waters in a sermon on Tuesday, in which he invited Christians to be obedient and to respect restrictions.
April Despite the prohibitions, the historical unemployed and the
social centers of Naples took to the streets. Since 25 April, on the occasion of
Liberation Day, banners were signed by the group of unemployed "7 November" asking for "mass buffers and universal income".
May An unauthorized demonstration, organized in particular by
Marcia su Roma and
Casapound, in protest against the government, started on 30 May. Among them, some also wore orange vests, and many citizens from different areas of Italy with the slogans "Traitors. Give us back our freedom" and "The coronavirus is all a political, economic and social design because they want to sell us to
China". About two hundred were present, with 70 those identified by the Rome Police Headquarters at the end of the day.
June On 20 June, in
Piazza del Duomo in
Milan, starting at 3:00 PM, the demonstration "
Salviamo la Lombardia" was staged, the protest organized by numerous groups - including
Democratic Medicine,
Milan 2030,
Arci and I sentinelli - which puts Lombardy president
Attilio Fontana and his junta targeted for the work done during the Coronavirus emergency.
October On 23 October, hundreds of people protested in
Naples in the coastal section of
Mergellina, after stricter COVID-19 measures were imposed in the city and the whole region of
Campania. The protesters clashed with police, wounding seven officers with smoke bombs, burning trash bins and chanting against the President of the region,
Vincenzo De Luca. Some people threw projectiles at police and two people were arrested. Violent protests spread in the following days in several Italian cities, with protesters clashing with the police, smashing windows and looting shops; several enquires pointed out that these protests had been infiltrated by far-right and far-left movements (like
Forza Nuova and the
social centres),
skinhead groups and
football hooligans.
November On 13 November,
Campania became a red zone and protests started in Naples. At the intersection between Cesario Console and via Nazario Sauro, about two hundred demonstrators from the market sector blocked car traffic, protesting in the middle of the road with a banner "We will never stop".
December Many people all over Italy, including restaurateurs and other traders started protesting on 14 and 15 December to make the celebration of
Christmas possible.
2021 January The protest of the white aprons of shopkeepers and restaurateurs, called by Fipe-Confcommercio and to which Fiepet-Confesercenti and the Association of Trentino public establishments have also joined
Trento. About 250 entrepreneurs met this morning at the former Zuffo car park with their cars and then moved in procession to the Government Commissariat, where after a brief moment of confrontation with the prefect Sandro Lombardi, they symbolically handed over their aprons as a sign of protest for the stalemate created, with restricted and penalizing hours, requirements and prohibitions.
February On 25 February, Prime Minister
Mario Draghi proposed a solution to the problem of school difficulties due to the virus, proposing to extend school lessons until 30 June. This sparked protests in
Naples, in the
Piazza Plebiscito square, where thousands, including teachers, students, and school staff, protested against
Draghi's government.
July On 22 July 2021, hours after Prime Minister Draghi announced the new "
Green Pass", restrictions came on 6 August 2021, triggering thousands of people to protest against the rule with a
No Paura Day (No Fear Day) rally in Turin. The "green pass" was to become a certificate allowing only fully vaccinated citizens to enter restaurants, swimming pools, gyms, The green pass would have to give proof of either full
vaccination against COVID-19, a recent negative test result, or evidence of recovery from COVID-19.
August In August 2021, the Italian government extended the requirement of the
EU Digital COVID Certificate, also known as "Green Pass", to participate in sporting events and music festivals, to access indoor places such as bars, restaurants, and gyms, as well as long-distance public transportation. Later on, the Italian government decided to extend the "Green Pass" mandate to all workplaces, public and private, starting from 15 October 2021. Italy's state of emergency was extended until 31 March 2022.
October As the deadline for compulsory vaccination approached, protests against the "Green Pass" mandate escalated on Saturday 9 October. Approximately 10,000 people gathered in
Piazza del Popolo in Rome. There, a mob stormed and vandalized the headquarters of the
Italian General Confederation of Labour, the largest trade union in Italy. In the following days and weeks, the protests spread to other cities in Italy with a connotation similar to the
July and August protests in France. In October 2021,
dock workers in
Trieste proclaimed a strike and blocked access to the docks to protests against the introduction of a compulsory "Green Pass" to access the workplace. The strike lasted several days until it was broken on 18 October 2021 by
Italian law enforcement using
water cannons and
tear gas; this caused a series of violent clashes between police and protestors that lasted for several hours, after which the mob occupied
Piazza Unità d'Italia for several days. Protests in the city followed in the following weekends, some of which violent. In response to the unrest, the Italian
Ministry of the Interior banned protests in city centres until the end of the emergency.
Abolition of Anti-Covid measures As of 1 June 2022, all anti-covid measures have been abolished in Italy, including the obligation of a green pass to enter or leave the country, as for many other EU countries except for health facilities. ==References==