- Title: Sleepy seaside town in Sicily braces for G7 protests
- Date: 26th May 2017
- Summary: GIARDINI NAXOS, ITALY (MAY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) GIARDINI NAXOS BAY WITH TAORMINA, VENUE OF G7 SUMMIT, ON HILL GIARDINI NAXOS VIEW WITH TAORMINA ON HILL HELICOPTER FLYING OVER TAORMINA MAN PLACING LARGE BOARD AT RESTAURANT ENTRANCE MAN TAPING BOARD POLICE CAR DRIVING PAST RESTAURANT MAN PUTTING BOARDS ON WINDOWS OF RESTAURANT LOCAL RESIDENTS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) LOCAL RESTAURANT OWNER, EUGENIO LO VITO, SAYING: "We are just trying to be ready in case something happens. I am sure this will be the usual peaceful demonstration but some violent anti-globalisation protesters could infiltrate. Obviously our protective measures would not stop some heavier attacks but they could prevent stones or other objects breaking glass. Even wooden boards are not perfect protection and those could be used by protesters as weapon or shields. You cannot prevent everything but we are trying to protect our restaurant at least a little bit." EMPTY BEACH WITH PARASOLS AND SUNBEDS, TAORMINA IN BACKGROUND CHILDREN PLAYING ON BEACH MEN REMOVING PARASOLS FROM BEACH COUPLE SITTING BY THE SEA VARIOUS OF WORKERS REMOVING PARASOLS FROM BEACH TWO PEOPLE SITTING AT BEACH MEN REMOVING PEDAL BOAT FROM BEACH (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) MANAGER AT BEACH, ALESSANDRO BARCA, SAYING: "We are a bit worried. The mayor has ordered that we remove everything from the beach because there will be a demonstration tomorrow so we are removing sunbeds and parasols. I think the night could be our biggest problem because if all these young demonstrators come and sleep at the beach who knows what will happen." BEACH WORKER PUSHING SUNBEDS ON SMALL TRACTOR LIFEGUARD SITTING BY SEA, COAST GUARD PASSING BY PEOPLE AT BEACH WITH TAORMINA ON HILL IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 9th June 2017 21:50
- Keywords: restaurants Giardini Naxos protest Sicily shopkeepers summit G7
- Location: GIARDINI NAXOS, ITALY
- City: GIARDINI NAXOS, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: G7,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016IH5F0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Shopkeepers down the hill from where world leaders are meeting boarded up their windows and doors on Friday (May 26) bracing for a protest march along the seafront of this normally sleepy Sicilian tourist town.
U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Japan and Canada are holding a Group of Seven summit in the hilltop town of Taormina, which is off limits to most for security reasons, so the neighbouring Giardini Naxos has been selected for the "No G7" march.
Giardini's mayor Pancrazio Lo Turco has ordered all shops to be closed on Saturday (May 27) until the protest is over, even though organisers say it is meant to be a peaceful demonstration aimed at giving voice to the world's disenfranchised.
Stores and restaurants are forbidden from selling bottled alcoholic beverages, and many have already boarded up their windows. Some have mounted metal plating, fearing the kind of violence that marked a similar meeting in Genoa, Italy, in 2001.
On that occasion, an anti-globalisation protester was shot dead by police during some of Italy's worst-ever riots.
The organisers of Saturday's rally expect some 3,500 people will turn up and police chiefs say they have no reason to believe it will turn violent.
Some 1,500 migrants have died so far this year trying to reach Europe by boat as the European Union funnels money and equipment to the Tripoli-based coast guard to turn them back to Libya. Hundreds die every year along the U.S.-Mexico border, where Trump has pledged to build a wall to keep migrants out. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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