On November 11, 2026, thousands of schools across Italy received anonymous email bomb threats signed by a fictitious leader, prompting widespread evacuations and high-level government meetings in Rome.
The wave of threats hit approximately 6,000 Italian educational institutions, according to Giuseppe Valditara, with alerts reported in cities from Milan and Rome to Palermo and Venice, tg24.sky.it reported. Certain reports also emerged in the provinces of Trieste, Padua, Venice, Naples, Brescia, Modena, Frosinone, Potenza, Rieti, Lecce, and Syracuse, as noted by tg24.sky.it. La Repubblica documented dozens of evacuations across Tuscany, including institutions in Florence, Siena, and Arezzo. Specifically in Florence, evacuations included the Salvemini Duca d’Aosta, Sassetti Peruzzi across both its Novoli and Scandicci locations, Galileo-Michelangiolo, Meucci, Poliziano, Virgilio, Pieraccini, Beato Angelico, Guicciardini, the Paolo Uccello middle school of the Gandhi Comprehensive Institute, Compagni Carducci, the Marconi primary school of the Ottone Rosai Comprehensive Institute, the Pirandello nursery school, the Castelnuovo scientific high school, Verdi, Rodari, Pontormo, Marconi, Barsanti, Rodolico, Lotti, Peano, and Saffi.
Tuscan disruptions also affected the Piero della Francesca high school in Arezzo, the Sarrocchi in Siena, and the Frediani primary school in Seravezza, alongside the Tricca elementary school, the Staggiano primary school, and the Matrignano nursery school in Arezzo. Casentino locations included the Galilei scientific high school in Poppi and the Fermi industrial technical institute in Bibbiena, while Lucca saw students outside at Vallisneri and Civitali.
Further evacuations occurred at the Capezzano Pianore comprehensive institute and its hillside hamlets, the Chini institute in Camaiore, the Carducci high school and Viani middle school in Viareggio, and the middle school in Piano di Conca within the municipality of Massarosa. Similar panic hit Northern Ireland and Scotland, where over 300 schools received identical emails, tg24.sky.it noted.
Government Dismisses Concrete Danger
Government officials confirmed that police checks found no explosives in any building. Giorgia Meloni convened an emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi with intelligence and cybersecurity chiefs to coordinate a national response.
“To date there is no evidence to indicate a concrete danger,” said Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, in a video statement published on social media, as reported by ANSA.
Valditara characterized the threat as nonexistent, linking the emails to recent cyberattacks targeting supermarkets, flights, and hospitals. Matteo Piantedosi urged caution regarding whether a single entity orchestrated the attacks, while Minister for Parliamentary Relations Luca Ciriani told the Chamber of Deputies that the government views the cyber threat as a cross-cutting, internationally-backed phenomenon aimed at destabilization.
Schools Stay Open Nationwide
Despite the disruption, regional authorities urged families to remain calm. Lombardy Education Councillor Simona Tironi acknowledged the psychological toll of evacuations on students, noting the priority is identifying the culprits, tg24.sky.it reported.
Not all headteachers chose to evacuate their campuses. Massimo Nunzio Barrella, headteacher of the historic Liceo Parini in Milan, opted to hold regular classes after consulting the postal police and determining the email was spam, RaiNews reported. Some principals in Milan similarly checked the email addresses and decided against disruption, while others followed standard emergency protocols to clear buildings, according to Corriere Milano.
“I immediately understood that it was spam because it mentioned the leader of Vilayat of Misogistan and it was the first element that made me understand that it was fake,” said Massimo Nunzio Barrella, headteacher of Liceo Parini, to AdnKronos.
Investigators Trace Hybrid Attacks
The Genova Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into criminal threats, interruption of public service, and creating false alarms, with potential terrorism aggravations, tg24.sky.it reported.
Prime Minister Meloni confirmed that schools will remain open normally across Italy, declaring that authorities will continue to verify every alert individually while working alongside European counterparts to unmask the perpetrators.
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