“We are 100 thousand”. In Milan the demonstration in favor of welcoming migrants, on the model of the anti-racist march in Barcelona, proposed by the Milan councilor for Welfare Pierfrancesco Majorino and by third sector associations. It is Majorino himself who indicates the first number on participation, which grows and reaches 100 thousand, announced by the organizers to the crowd: "And many greetings to Salvini". Applause. “Today we say that we are not going back. We will not build new walls and divisions with the bricks of intolerance”, the words of the president of the Senate Piero Grasso. “Those who were born in Italy, study in Italy, are Italian”. The tweet from Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni also arrives: "Thank you Milan, safe and welcoming".
At the head of the procession Emma Bonino and the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. With them under the banner of the event also the mayor of Bergamo Giorgio Gori. Among the personalities who paraded, Maurizio Landini the secretary of Fiom, the deputy of Pd Emanuele Fiano. In the procession he also paraded a dinghy symbol of the journey that migrants face to arrive on the Italian coast. "With solidarity and acceptance - said Sala - there will be justice". "I want to be the mayor of a city - he continued - that thinks of growing and thinks every day of becoming better and more beautiful, but this success can only be associated with solidarity". The mayor then explained that there must be “rights for those who arrive and rights for those who have already been here for some time – he concluded – the two things can be done together. As a citizen and as mayor I would not like to stay in an overly cynical city that thinks only of itself".
Salvini's condemnation: "A hypocritical march and a march for the invaders". The procession started from Porta Venezia, went through the ramparts of Porta Nuova, Piazza della Repubblica, Porta Volta, passed around the Civic Arena and Sempione Park, and ended up in Piazza del Cannone. There were no objections by the most 'angry' soul of the procession – the social centers – who had promised to bring out clearly the opposition to the "discriminatory laws towards foreigners: Bossi-Fini, Turco-Napolitano, Minniti-Orlando".
