Italian authorities and protest organizers cleared road blockades in Campania and Calabria overnight and through Friday, according to Corriere della Sera, easing a standoff that had left supermarket shelves bare and petrol stations dry across parts of southern Italy. The removals followed mediation with regional officials, though some symbolic presences remain and a full return to normal commerce is expected to take several days.
Why it matters
The dispute, driven by fuel costs and what hauliers describe as unfair commercial practices, exposed how quickly a regional transport stoppage can ripple through food and fuel distribution nationwide. Corriere della Sera reports that large-scale retail and logistics are now working through a backlog built up since the action began on 16 October.
Mauro Lusetti, vice-president of Confcommercio and president of Conad, told la Repubblica that the situation had been "unblocked to some degree" from Wednesday evening, when deliveries could restart late in the day. He estimated three to seven days would be needed before normal service resumes, and put the damage at several million euros spread across the whole supply chain.
Blockades cleared, but queues and empty shelves persist
In the Caserta and Salerno areas, all motorway presences held by hauliers and farmers were removed overnight, Corriere della Sera reports. Protesters also dissolved their gathering in Naples near the Bausan gate. On the SS 106 in the Crotonese area, at Passovecchio and Sant'Anna di Isola Capo Rizzuto, heavy vehicles that had lined the roadside since 16 October were moved and the carriageway fully reopened; trucks had already begun running again the previous day to resupply shops. Some tractors remain on roundabouts as a symbolic marker of an action that is suspended rather than resolved.
The easing in Calabria followed a commitment by demonstrators after talks with regional president Roberto Occhiuto, according to Corriere della Sera. The paper credits sustained local mediation by Crotone's deputy prefect, Ester Libertini, who collected the delegations' demands, and by police chief Renato Panvino, who visited the pickets in person several times to keep channels open. Protest representatives framed the reopening as a responsible step to protect local supplies, while insisting their core aim remains the economic protection of their businesses. The sector says current operating conditions are unsustainable, citing allegedly unfair trading practices and a fuel price increase estimated at 50% over a single year.
Even as roads cleared, the practical effects lingered. Corriere della Sera reports long queues at the petrol stations still serving customers, with many others showing sold-out pumps. Supermarkets remained largely empty of many products as restocking began. Lusetti told la Repubblica that no trucks had left his company's depots from the start of the protest, and that goods had not arrived from the four affected regions — Campania, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. He said operations were back to about 70%, with some blockades continuing at Nola and Avellino, and expected further normalization within hours. Fruit and vegetables suffered most, he said, along with highly perishable items such as fish and meat.
Corriere della Sera also reports that the eastern Naples picket near one of the city's two refineries was dissolved after police escorted fuel deliveries with patrol cars; before that, hauliers had staged a peaceful slow-speed convoy to the refinery. Produce including fruit, fish, milk and now flowers has been unable to leave the south, the paper adds, and pharmacies were beginning to report supply problems.
A parallel taxi protest and government aid
Separately, a demonstration organized by Uri, itTaxi and Unicoop over high fuel prices and the growing weight of operating costs on taxi drivers is scheduled for Monday 26 October from 10:00 to 13:00 in Rome at Piazzale di Porta Pia, outside the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Organizers said the location was moved from Via XX Settembre, in front of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in agreement with police given the large expected turnout, with driver delegations arriving from across Italy.
The government has already moved on costs. A decree against high fuel prices was approved, Corriere della Sera reports, allocating 45.2 million euros in tax credits to hauliers for diesel bought between March and August 2026, plus a further 60 million for the period from 1 September to 5 October. Those sums come on top of 21.2 million already provided under a separate vehicle tax measure, and lease instalments for owner-operators are suspended until March 2027.
According to the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, citing its fuel price monitoring unit, average self-service prices on Friday 23 October 2026 stood at 2.022 euros per litre for petrol and 2.260 euros for diesel on the national road network; on motorways the averages were 2.045 euros for petrol and 2.3 euros for diesel. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has warned of possible price speculation on food, Corriere della Sera reports.
What to watch
Attention now turns to whether restocking keeps pace with demand over the coming week, and to the Rome taxi demonstration on 26 October, with hauliers in Calabria and elsewhere signalling that their action is only paused.
