A wave of lorry protests against high diesel prices dominated the whole of Friday in southern Italy. In Calabria, in Basilicata, Puglia and Campania, lorries have been stationed at motorways, ports and refinery entrances since midnight. The wave of protests was accompanied by a five-day strike at the Eni refinery in Taranto, which paralysed fuel supplies across several southern regions. According to Eni , by mid-morning 150 of the 270 stations in its own network in Puglia were empty; in Potenza too, most petrol pumps displayed signs reading "tutto esaurito".
Lorry protests across four regions
The protests stretch from Reggio Calabria to Caserta. In Calabria, the logistics association Fedralog has occupied around 15 locations, including the A2 junctions in the province of Cosenza, the area around Lamezia Terme airport and the port of Gioia Tauro, as documented on a map by the Gazzetta del Sud . In Basilicata, spontaneous committees have established pickets on the Strada Statale Jonica at the border with Puglia and Calabria, as well as in the Vulturearea . In Puglia, around 500 lorries gathered at Costa Morena near Brindisi.
In Campania, the protests began at midnight. Lorries are stationed at the Nola toll point on the A30 between Caserta and Salerno, as well as near Caianello on the A1 towards Naples, with additional vehicles at Caserta Sud. One lane remains open at all locations, though the Polizia Stradale is nevertheless reporting traffic jams. In Sicily, the lorry strike by the Comitato autotrasportatori siciliani forms part of the ongoing October strike wave and runs until 20 October.
Taranto refinery: blockade lifted, strike ends at 11 p.m.
The central news of the day comes from Taranto. After five days of protest, workers at the former Ilva plant lifted the blockades outside the Eni refinery on Friday. Tankers can once again make deliveries to Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria, including to petrol stations operated by other providers. The strike itself runs until 11 p.m. on Friday evening.
The basis for the agreement is a cross-party document signed the previous day by the Puglia region in Bari. This is accompanied by a government meeting scheduled for 27 October at the Palazzo Chigi. The trade unions are calling for extraordinary measures to safeguard jobs, as well as an industrial plan for decarbonising the steelworks and introducing electric arc furnaces. The Archbishop of Taranto, Ciro Miniero, called on politicians to embrace responsibility and reconciliation.
Farmers in Potenza, outlook for next week
In Potenza, farmers gathered on Friday morning outside the headquarters of the Regione Basilicata for a rally organised by Coldiretti. Local politicians joined the demonstration. The lorry protests in Calabria and Sicily are, according to current announcements, planned through to Tuesday, 20 October, and will therefore continue over the weekend as well. A broader general strike has been called, according to the strike calendar , for 30 October by the grassroots union Usi Cit; transport is expressly excluded from its scope.
For those travelling to the south: the main problem on Friday was fuel supply. With the end of the refinery blockade, the situation at petrol stations is expected to ease from the weekend onwards. Motorway lane closures and delays caused by stationary lorries remain possible at protest locations in Calabria and Sicily until Tuesday. The underlying cause of the unrest is the price of diesel. Following the expiry of the government's price freeze on 5 October, the price of diesel per litre rose by at least three euros per tank, according to La Sicilia .
