Thousands of people took to the streets, marching against the far-right League party in Florence in Italy on Saturday, the latest in a series of demonstrations called by the new, youth-driven “Sardine Movement”.
The sardine became a symbol of protest against the far-right firebrand leader Matteo Salvini, who served as interior minister and deputy prime minister in the previous coalition government with the Five Star Movement.
Demonstrators gathered in the city’s Piazza Della Repubblica sang the anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao”, shouting “Every sardine has the right to exist!”
The new movement has staged around 10 demonstrations over the past 15 days in the north of the country.
Instead of the usual banners from political groups, protesters brandished placards in the shape of a sardine.
The Sardine Movement was founded on November 14 by four hitherto unknown young activists from the northern city of Bologna in protest against Salvini’s politics.
It was a response to the growing strength in the north of the right-wing coalition led by the League.
In late October, the League won a historic victory in regional polls in central Umbria, which had been led by the left for half a century.
Salvini is now campaigning hard to try to capture another leftwing stronghold, the wealth region of Emilio Romagna, in the northeast.