Tens of thousands of members of Italy's youth-driven Sardine Movement on Saturday rallied in Rome, as part of their campaign to battle xenophobia and shake up the country's politics. The "Sardines" have become a symbol of protest against far-right firebrand leader Matteo Salvini, who served as interior minister and deputy prime minister in Italy's previous coalition government and cracked down on immigration.

In Rome's immense San Giovanni Square, retiree Roberto Piperno was among those joining the crowd, which sang the anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao, a staple of the movement's demonstrations.

He turned out because he did not want to see "hatred propagated" and to do nothing would make him "ashamed to be Italian", he said.

Taking aim at "populism", 32-year-old Mattia Santori, a founder of the movement, told the crowd the idea was to "bring out a new energy through a much freer and more spontaneous form" than a traditional political party "that will not be hierarchical" but would instead set "broad directions".

One demonstrator held up a giant sardine model, while others brandished drawings and posters. The movement, only a month old, started in Bologna when a rally organised by four unknown activists to denounce Salvini's discourse of "hatred and division" drew a crowd of 15,000, surprising everybody.

Since then, they have staged a series of rallies drawing tens of thousands in Milan, Florence, Naples and Palermo.

"The first was against Salvini and then it became a reaffirmation of democracy: we are anti-fascist, pro-equality, against intolerance, against homophobia," Mattia Santori, one of the movement's founders, told AFP.

The movement's representative in the Italian capital is Stephen Ogongo, a 45-year-old journalist of Kenyan origin.

He set up the Facebook page of the Roman chapter of the Sardines announcing the rally about 15 days ago.