Whilst a protest against a far-right politician in the UK yesterday amounted to Nigel Farage being covered in milkshake, here in Bologna feelings against the far-right got a little more out of hand.
A crowd of one thousand protested against a rally by the far-right group, Forza Nuovo, led by Roberto Fiore, who incidentally is a chum of Farage’s.
Here, the terrorist bombing of Bologna Station in August 1980, which killed 85 people, is still fresh in the Bolognese memory. Several members of a neo-fascist terrorist organisation were sentenced to life imprisonment for the massacre, although the group denied involvement. Fiore fled to London when weapons were found in a building used by him. After spending the next 20 years in the UK as a political refugee, he returned to Italy, where he was sentenced to the next five plus years in prison.
The antifascist protestors yesterday threw petrol bombs and the police retaliated with baton charges and water cannon, but there have been no reports of casualties. Our classmates reported seeing helicopters flying over the city yesterday evening, which we, in our leafy suburban apartment, were oblivious to.
Tortoise Travel 
Thank goodness that you were in the leafy suburbs! We’re just hoping that Farage doesn’t get too much support from today’s voting but I fear it’s a slim chance!
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Guess we’ll have to wait until after the elections here to find out. Another protest in Bologna today – this time it was the turn of the young. Two days ago there was a march by the feminists, but strangely they were all carrying flowers. I think they’ve missed the point somehow.
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