Italy’s Sardines push back against Salvini’s nationalist tide

A December rain was drenching the northern Italian city of Milan, and in the shadow of its Gothic cathedral was a sea of umbrellas - and a sea of Sardines.

Crammed into the Piazza Duomo, packed tightly like the fish that’s given them their name, was a nascent movement gaining ground across the country.

They came with a message: promoting human rights and respect for migrants and halting the rise and rise of one man – Matteo Salvini.

The leader of the far-right League party and Italy’s former deputy prime minister abruptly quit the government over the summer, hoping to …