The Walls of Rome: 4 Hours in the Life of a Poster

Not all posters dealing with immigration are negative.  This one, found
in the immigrant-heavy (mostly Bangladeshi) suburb of Torpignattara, is critical of the
local government for its failure to make documents available to immigrants.

It's no secret that many Italians are concerned about immigration; under EU rules, the country where an immigrant first makes land must make provision for that immigrant.  There is no plan for dividing up immigrants equally.  This is a particular problem for Italy, which has a long and vulnerable coastline and is a short (but often deadly) boat ride from troubled Tunisia. As elsewhere in Europe, there are those in Italy who identify immigration with terrorism--and, those who don't.

These issues were brought home forcefully on the day we "landed" in Monteverde Vecchio, an upper-middle-class neighborhood on the hill above what is commonly thought of as Trastevere.  Here's the poster we found:

Stop Terrorism, Stop Immigration..  Not sure what "Fdl" is.
 There is an anti-immigration Facebook group known as Patria e Liberta

Four hours later, when we passed that way again, the poster looked like this:

  In the weeks that followed, we found other posters dealing with immigration:

This political poster was part of the 2016 mayoral election.  "Let's Stop
the Alien Invasion" 

CasaPound's poster, in Casal Bertone: Defend Rome/Enough Immigration, Enough "Welcoming"

Lessons in Rome Politics: Iorio's Alien Invasion

Rome is gearing up for a mayoral election in June.  At the moment there is no mayor (sindaco), the last one, Ignazio Marino, having resigned in disgrace.

One of the fringe candidates is Alfredo Iorio.  He doesn't have a chance to be mayor, but his poster ads reveal how one segment of the population imagines solving the city's problems, which are legion--or not solving them.  

                                                  "I don't want to see the death of Rome"
 

                                   "Are You Unemployed?  Become an Immigrant"
                                       (below) "Enough Humiliation for Romans"

The most creative effort of the Iorio campaign is the poster below.  It works two ways.  On the one hand, the outer-space-like creature stands for unwanted immigrants and aliens:  "Let's stop the Alien Invasion."  On the other hand, the poster accuses other mayoral candidates, including two who have a chance of winning, as well as the former mayor (who isn't running, of course), of being aliens:  "They come from another planet/They want to conquer Rome."

Invaders everywhere! Welcome to sophisticated Rome politics!

Bill