Saint Joseph's flames, fires, and clashes in the city: tension in Zisa

The flames rising in the square, the intervention of law enforcement, and the throwing of stones in response. This is how the night of the flames began in Palermo on the occasion of the feast of Saint Joseph. In the Zisa neighborhood, last night, a group of young people with covered faces stacked wood near via Michele Piazza, subsequently setting fire to some waste as well.

Subsequently, there were some moments of tension: to hinder the intervention of law enforcement, some garbage bins were moved to the center of the roadway, creating a barrier that slowed down the arrival of emergency services. The situation generated moments of agitation, culminating in a clash between the young people and the officers who intervened on the scene to secure the area. Later, the firefighters arrived, supported by police in riot gear. Currently, there are no reported injuries.

According to some testimonies, the tension rose following the throwing of some stones. In the clash, in fact, some parked cars were hit by these, causing damage: the windows of some vehicles were shattered.

“At the Zisa castle, the flames are almost every evening in the indifference of everyone - explains a resident - tourists are astonished by the neglect and the signs of vandalism that the site, a meeting place for bands of vandals, presents. It’s a depressing situation.”