Stop the Bridge over the Strait of Messina: today this is the cry of over 80 associations, including Greenpeace, Legambiente and Lipu, but also of ordinary citizens, who took to the streets in Messina starting from 2pm to reiterate their “No” to a controversial infrastructure, the most discussed in Italy, which has also recently received a stop from the Court of Auditors.
The “history” of the Bridge over the Strait of Messina
We have been talking about this infrastructure for a long time, it is certainly not a new idea. After decades of announcements and postponements, in February 2025 the Board of Directors of the Stretto di Messina company approved the designer’s report updating the 2011 definitive project relating to the bridge over the Strait and the design documentation aimed at restarting the construction of the work, as required by law.
Subsequently, the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) procedure was opened on March 14th, with observations remaining open until April 13th, with times and rules that at the time appeared “simplified” compared to usual.
In fact, more than 5 years had passed without the work having been carried out after the 2013 Opinion of the EIA Commission, so the EIA had to be done from scratch on all the documentation. Furthermore, reference was still made to the accelerated and simplified procedures of the Objective law (law 443/2001) which however in the meantime had undergone quite a few legislative changes which in reality made it at least partially inapplicable.
But above all, the time required for the drafting and presentation of observations by the public in the context of the EIA was halved (from 60 to 30 days), and the last but not the leastthe Municipalities participating in the Services Conference had only been able to propose requests for adaptation, prescriptions or improvement variants of the project, without being able to modify the locations and essential characteristics of the works.
Despite discussions and protests, the project was nevertheless approved by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS) on 6 August 2025.
But in reality there was one step missing: the approval of the Court of Auditors which, contrary to what some might have expected, rejected the work last 29 October.
In a subsequent note, the Board then justified the decision in detail, mainly appealing to:
In other words, the work was rejected because it violates the natural habitat, but there are also contractual changes and the Art’s lack of opinion on the tariff plan involved.
As if that wasn’t enough, seismic safety has also generated many perplexities: in fact the area affected by the construction of the bridge was the scene of one of the worst earthquakes in the history of Europe: on 28 December 1908 a violent earthquake of magnitude 7.1, followed by a tsunami, destroyed the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria, and around 80 thousand people lost their lives in the catastrophe.
The risk is that the bridge will collapse if an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 7.1 occurs, an earthquake which I believe is possible even with a much higher magnitude – said the engineer Alessandro Martelli, an expert in anti-seismic systems, in a recent interview with us – It is necessary to assume the design magnitude of 7.8, as assessed by well-known seismologists (for example by Prof. Giuliano Panza of Trieste). 7.1 was the only theoretical magnitude of the Messina and Reggio Calabria earthquake of 1908 and, before that, of that of Southern Calabria in 1783 (at that time the displacements were not measured and, therefore, reliable magnitude values were not obtained). Then, for a strategic work like the bridge, it is essential to assume adequate safety margins (remember that the magnitude scale is logarithmic). However, in my opinion, the bridge would be very useful and I think that the aforementioned design revision would be possible, using adequate heat sinks
The demonstration of November 29, 2025
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At the moment, however, the work remains suspended, but not abandoned. This is why the No movement continues to protest. Today, November 29, over 80 associations joined the demonstration, marches and rallies.
The Bridge over the Strait is not the answer to the needs of Sicily, Calabria and the South – writes the WWF – but a further problem from all points of view: environmental, economic and social
But it is not just the largest associations and non-profit organizations that have joined the initiative: the “No” starts from those who live in those places.
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The Strait of Messina is not just a geographical place: it is the guardian of millenary myths and legends, celebrated by poets and storytellers, from Homer to Consolo – echoes the No Ponte association of the citizens of Capo Peloro, the extreme north-eastern tip of Sicily – Its scenic beauty and richness of biodiversity are treasures to be preserved!
The story continues, and promises not to end any time soon.
Sources: WWF / Instead of the Bridge/Facebook No Bridge/Instagram / No Bridge – Capo Peloro/Instagram
