Pisa Braces for Counter-Protest as Right-Wing Groups Plan “Civic Walks”
Residents of Pisa’s Porta Fiorentina-Stazione district are preparing for a demonstration on , sparked by planned “civic walks” organized by right-wing groups. These walks, framed as efforts to combat drug dealing and urban decay, are being met with accusations of racism and a deliberate attempt to exploit social anxieties.
A coalition of leftist organizations – Potere al Popolo, Rete dei Comunisti, Cambiare Rotta, Unione Sindacale di Base CUB, Circolo Agorà, and Kontromovimento – have called for a mobilization, urging “antifascists and all those no longer willing to accept racist marches – in the style of US ‘patrols’ – in our city.” The groups argue that these walks are a thinly veiled attempt to scapegoat marginalized communities and divert attention from systemic issues.
The planned counter-protest, scheduled for in Piazza Guerrazzi, comes amid growing concerns about the direction of local and national politics. Activists point to the Italian government’s increased military spending – reaching annually – and the local administration’s support for new military bases as evidence of a broader pattern of prioritizing security concerns over social welfare.
“In a phase where the Meloni government is increasing the country’s military spending to 144 billion euros a year – obeying the dictates of the European Union and NATO – and where the Conti administration supports the construction of a new 500 million euro military base, the local right has every interest in constructing an internal public enemy on which to attempt to divert popular anger,” a statement from the organizing coalition reads. “And even before the Tuscania Base came the expansion of the Camp Darby base, for which local authorities have worked.”
The groups contend that the “civic walks” are designed to channel frustration over social and economic hardship – exacerbated by austerity measures and a lack of opportunity – towards immigrant shopkeepers and other vulnerable populations. They argue that this strategy mirrors a broader trend of right-wing populism that seeks to create divisions and scapegoat minorities.
“The goal is to offload the hatred produced by social malaise caused by the war economy onto the so-called public enemy, in this case immigrant traders,” the statement continues. “We call on people to take to the streets to block the next march, which calls for more soldiers on the streets and in the neighborhoods, reaffirming clearly that security is built with rights: with safe and stable work, with adequate wages, with a home for everyone, with a public and free education system from elementary school to university.”
The organizers also criticize the government’s allocation of resources, arguing that funds are being diverted from essential social services to military spending and economic restructuring. They point to the precariousness of the labor market, the rise of insecure employment, and the lack of adequate safety measures in the workplace as evidence of a system that prioritizes profit over people.
“While talking about security, Meloni and her party divert money that should be spent on social services, pensions, and public health towards the military conversion of the economy,” the coalition asserts. “At the same time, she claims to have created new jobs, when it is instead evident to everyone that work is increasingly precarious, unstable and underpaid: a context in which bosses and little bosses are encouraged to further reduce rights and safety conditions, thus favoring accidents and deaths at work. In Pisa, Conti and his administration are jeopardizing the local social services system, as demonstrated by the municipality’s withdrawal from the Health Authority, solely due to power struggles with the center-left.”
The groups also accuse the center-left opposition of failing to adequately address the needs of working-class communities, citing past policies that they claim abandoned marginalized neighborhoods and harmed vulnerable populations. They argue that the center-left shares the right’s commitment to austerity and military intervention, leaving a void for a truly progressive alternative.
“Meanwhile, hundreds of empty social housing units continue to rot and others are included in the municipality’s sales plans. It is striking, in this situation, the fake opposition of the PD, which when it governed the city had abandoned the popular neighborhoods and hit the poorest (remember the ordinances of the last two mayors of the PD?), opening the doors to the victory of the right in Pisa. The center-left shares with the right the policies of rearmament and support for the war in Ukraine,” the statement concludes. “Against old and new fascism, the right-wing governments and the false oppositions, it is urgent to build a popular and independent alternative, to change this social model at the root.”
The planned counter-protest signals a growing resistance to the rising tide of right-wing populism in Italy and a determination to defend the rights of marginalized communities. The situation in Pisa is likely to be closely watched as a test case for how local communities respond to similar initiatives elsewhere in the country.
