Ordinary life in Rome promises to be difficult on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 October when protests, combined with the U2 concert on Friday evening at the Stadio Olimpico, the main football stadium, are expected to bring traffic to a halt.

Students, teachers and parents are in Rome on 8 October to protest government staffing cuts and new regulations in schools and universities. Over 40,000 schools countrywide are affected by the strike action, and sit-ins outside the ministry of education are expected to block traffic in Viale Trastevere and all surrounding areas. Other school and university strikes are scheduled for 13, 15 and 16 October.

On Saturday 9 October the trade union federations CISL and CGIL are also holding demonstrations in the centre of Rome over the government