Spain announced Saturday it would impose border controls on Italian travelers, a retaliatory measure after Italy implemented similar restrictions on visitors from Spain. The diplomatic row stems from a recent surge of tens of thousands of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta, located in North Africa.
Italians arriving at Barcelona's airport faced random police checks starting Saturday night. The Spanish government stated these controls would remain for at least a month. This action followed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's rejection of Spain's demand to lift its own restrictions by an August 9 deadline. Italy had begun enforcing air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens on August 1, after Meloni criticized Spain's progressive migration policies.
The dispute was ignited by the arrival of approximately 72,000 migrants from Morocco at Ceuta in late July. Spanish and Moroccan authorities reported that over 80 migrants died during this influx, with some drowning or being trampled while attempting to cross a breakwater barrier. Many of the migrants have since returned to Morocco.
The migrant arrivals in Ceuta have intensified the immigration debate within the European Union. Critics, including Meloni, have pointed to Spain's policies, such as an amnesty program for immigrants without residency permits who could prove five months of residency and pre-January 1 arrival, as contributing factors to the large influx. Over one million people applied for this amnesty before the deadline closed at the end of July.
Under the EU's Schengen Area, citizens of most member states can travel freely across internal borders. However, member states are permitted to temporarily reintroduce border controls if there is a serious threat to internal security. Such measures are intended to be a last resort, applied only in exceptional circumstances and for limited durations.
Meloni's office stated Friday that Italy had no intention of lifting its border checks on arrivals from Spain by sea or air before August 15. The statement emphasized that Italy would not accept ultimatums and would only review its decision once it was certain there were no security or terrorist risks, no new waves of irregular migrants, and no onward movement towards European territory.