Fear among shopkeepers in Milan. Sala: 'More institutional closeness from the prime minister wouldn't hurt'

Shopkeepers in the center of Milan are worried about what could happen tomorrow, when new riots are feared after those of last weekend with many shop windows being attacked and destroyed.

In via Orerici, in the center, several shops will close and by the evening the windows will be covered with plywood panels for protection. In Via Torino, the scene of clashes also on Sunday, some shopkeepers are deciding whether to close or remain open. Some have already decided to lower the shutter.

"We will be closed tomorrow - explains the manager of a shop a stone's throw from Piazza Cordusio - because we are afraid and because the police advised us to do so for the brands we sell, such as Timberland and North Face which are loved by kids. By the evening they will also be installing protections for the windows. On this street, Via Orefici, at least four shops have decided to close, Tommy Hilfiger will also do so, after what happened last Saturday and Sunday. There is no point in taking risks. Also because we have seen that there was a sudden escalation of violence on Sunday."

The shop assistant of a well-known jeans brand tells how last week during the vandalism "all of us in the shops were alerted to what was happening and luckily we managed to close in time". A shop window was broken and now there is a wooden panel covering it, "but it could have been worse - he adds -. However, we are open tomorrow and for now I'm not afraid, I hope everything goes well".

In Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the living room of Milan, the luxury brand shops will currently remain open, "they didn't tell us to close", they explain from Louis Vuitton, and Rolex will also remain open for now. "I think they will install protections for the windows - explains a sales assistant -. For us it would be better to close because last weekend we were barricaded in the shop for two hours with customers and we had to have them usher from the back for safety". In any case, "we have suspended appointments for tomorrow because in these conditions it is better not to let customers come here", he concludes.

Sala: 'I invite shopkeepers not to close, so as not to spread panic'

The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, in view of tomorrow in which new riots are feared after those of last weekend, launches an invitation to traders not to close their shops. "I invite them not to do it - he explained on the sidelines of a press conference -, but it is clear that I cannot do more than an invitation, then it will be their decision". "If panic spreads then nothing else happens - he added -, I will try to go and shop in a shop too".

"In my opinion it wouldn't hurt" to have more institutional closeness. Thus the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala told journalists who asked him if he would have expected a phone call from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after last weekend's riots. "I didn't receive the phone call, but here it's up to everyone to relate to local administrations and mayors - he added on the sidelines of a press conference -. I think it's a mistake not to discuss it at this moment: the political differences are there but when faced with certain problems we need to go further. It's an observation that is not polemical, if someone wants to understand it as polemical, it isn't".