Edward Marchesi October 30, 2026, was marked by a large-scale national mobilization promoted by the Unione Sindacale di Base (UBB). The general strike brought street demonstrations to the streets in around 50 cities , including Milan, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Mestre, and Treviso, with sit-ins, traffic blockades, and moments of tension in several squares.
Participants' main demands concerned the cost of living , rearmament , and the defense of public services; slogans chanted in the squares included phrases like "We create wealth, you thieves the future" and demands for the redirection of military spending toward healthcare, education, housing rights, and pensions.
Milan: Occupation and eviction of the Eastern Ring Road
In Milan, the march converged on the Tangenziale Est (A51) , where protesters occupied the road for approximately three hours . Participants then headed towards Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, where the march dispersed. Tense moments occurred near the Lambrate junction when police escorted the last protesters to the exit: this resulted in chants and arguments, but no violent clashes.
Traffic returned to normal in the area after the protest ended, and some young people remained on the lawns of Piazza Leonardo da Vinci.
Rome: Colosseum protests, violent incidents, and unauthorized march
The Roman demonstration, which started from Piazza dei Cinquecento with a participation reported by the organizers as 20 thousand people , initially saw a permanent presence in Via dei Fori Imperiali and the setting up of tents near the Colosseum as a form of continuous protest.
The predominant slogan was addressed to the government with demands for cuts in defense funding.
Riots on Via Claudia and Ponte Sisto
In the afternoon, an unauthorized group created disorder on Via Claudia , just a few dozen meters from the Colosseum: about fifty hooded youths set fire to garbage cans and threw glass bottles at law enforcement. Later, a spontaneous march from Trastevere, numbering about two thousand people, attempted to reach the city center. The march's head was pushed back onto the Ponte Sisto bridge , with moments of contact and the throwing of bottles, and the police charged to block its passage toward Montecitorio.
Security measures and precautions around institutions
To stem the potential escalation, law enforcement deployed armored vehicles and officers around Montecitorio and Palazzo Chigi , closing the bridges over the Tiber and restricting access to some nearby tunnels and squares. Termini station remained manned by dozens of officers , and security measures were also implemented around the Colosseum, where students had symbolically occupied the area in the previous days.
Turin, Mestre, and other cities: marches, fire hoses, and injuries
In Turin, several thousand people gathered in Piazza Castello for an evening march, also promoted by the Einaudi Campus occupiers and by Torino per Gaza . At the head of the march was a banner reading "Meloni, we're coming" and the motto "Every campus will be a barricade, we won't pay for the war ." Throughout the day, several relief charges were carried out and water cannons were used to contain tensions.
In Mestre, during the student and workers' march, there was an attempt to break through the security cordon at the base of an overpass towards Venice. Police intervention with batons and shields halted the advance, and seven officers suffered bruises and cuts. In Treviso, meanwhile, some protesters threw colored eggs at the headquarters of Confindustria (the Italian employers' federation), an action claimed as a symbolic protest against industrialists.
Other cities affected
During the day, Bologna and Milan also saw temporary occupations of ring roads, while in Vicenza, water cannons were deployed to stop an attempted occupation of a ramp; three protesters were hit by tear gas in another city involved in the protests. Overall, the strike and marches saw widespread mobilization, with some localized tensions but no uniform escalation across the country.
The day of October 30, 2026, witnessed a period of intense social mobilization: on the one hand, protests and blockades organized to denounce price increases and budgetary decisions, on the other, clashes that required public order interventions and containment measures in the most critical areas.