Is this really so hard to understand? Italy is a country whose identity is entirely built on its cultural history. It is not surprising at all that older people dislike the idea of foreigners coming in that have little relation to them, don’t speak their language, and aren’t really interested in maintaining heavily Catholic, traditional Italian society.

The same exact thing happens in Korea, Japan, China, Eastern Europe, Norway, and pretty much any other country that isn’t explicitly built on the idea of immigration and assimilation.