In recent weeks, the spontaneous “Sardines” movement has been organizing counter-demonstrations at Matteo Salvini’s political meetings, to challenge his far-right party.
The initiative was launched in mid-November by a group of young Italians who invited the inhabitants of Bologna to fill a square in the city by “squeezing like sardines” to outnumber the participants in a meeting of the League’s leader that was taking place nearby. The movement quickly spread to other cities in the Northern region of Emilia Romagna. Founders say they are not a political party and have no intention of becoming one, but add that they want to “stir Italians, challenge the League’s abrasive, anti-migrant message that dominates social media and try to instill common decency in public debate.”