{"id":38804,"date":"2026-08-07T23:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/38804\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:08:13","slug":"spain-imposes-border-controls-against-italy-as-ceuta-migration-spat-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/38804\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain imposes border controls against Italy as Ceuta migration spat escalates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain announced it would temporarily establish border controls for flights and ships from Italy as a row between the two countries over the influx of migrants into Ceuta<\/a> intensified.<\/p>\n

Passport, nationality and visa checks would be conducted for visitors and maritime passengers arriving from Italy from midnight on Friday until Sept 7 “amid the persistent irregular migratory pressure” from Rome, the Spanish government declared.<\/p>\n

Spain said the measures would apply while Italy applied its own measures, which Rome said were motivated by the mass migration rush<\/a> by 72,000 people to Spain’s African exclave of Ceuta on July 30.<\/p>\n

Hours earlier, Spain threatened Italy with countermeasures if it did not swiftly lift its own border checks, drawing a rebuff from Rome.<\/p>\n

Of the 72,000 people who entered Ceuta, 70,000 had returned to Morocco<\/a>, according to official Spanish figures, while many, including children, were still in the exclave in dire conditions.<\/p>\n

Spanish authorities said 80 people died in the crossings, although rights groups estimated the total to be higher.<\/p>\n

Credit: Reuters<\/p>\n

The scenes infuriated anti-immigration EU members, including Italy, which imposed a one-month suspension of its visa-free travel Schengen deal<\/a> with Spain.<\/p>\n

The Spanish government said the measure was “unfair, contrary to the EU’s interests and discriminatory for the Spanish population”.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, described it as “a torpedo fired at the hull of European unity”.<\/p>\n

“We urge the government of Italy to rectify, put an end to the checks and treat Spaniards like other European citizens,” the government said.<\/p>\n

It threatened “proportional measures” in response by Sunday if Italy failed to comply.<\/p>\n

\"Migrants<\/p>\n

Unrest at the Morocco-Spain border, where the Ceuta invasion crisis boiled over and has now led to a row with Italy – Abdel Majid Bziouat\/AFP via Getty<\/p>\n

Within hours, the government of Giorgia Meloni<\/a>, Italy’s far-Right prime minister, said it “had no intention of revising the decision” before Aug 15, when it said Spanish authorities “expected a new wave of migration” to hit Ceuta.<\/p>\n

“Italy does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad regarding national security and border control,” Ms Meloni’s office said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Only when there is certainty that there are no security or terrorism risks to Italy, that no new wave is occurring, and that no irregular migrants are heading toward European territory, will the decision be reconsidered,” it read.<\/p>\n

Spain’s interior ministry announced the reciprocal measures within hours.<\/p>\n

\"Migrants<\/p>\n

The migrants chaos at Ceuta that started last month. Fears are growing of another invasion – Antonio Sempere\/AP<\/p>\n

Spanish police have been monitoring online rumours and social media about possible fresh arrivals in Ceuta in mid-August, according to local media. But authorities have not expressly said they expect a repeat of last week’s rush.<\/p>\n

Border authorities would in the meantime “do their utmost to ensure maximum ease of movement for Spanish and European citizens” who are not affected by border checks, the Italian statement added.<\/p>\n

Italy, which does not share a land border with Spain, introduced border controls at maritime and air entry points for third-country nationals arriving from the Iberian country.<\/p>\n

The move announced on July 31 was an “extraordinary measure” intended to “safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation”, Ms Meloni said at the time.<\/p>\n

She was among EU leaders who called for Spain to be suspended<\/a> from the visa-free Schengen travel zone after the Ceuta incident, despite such a move being legally impossible.<\/p>\n

Italy’s coalition government has sought to stop the tens of thousands of people who land in small boats on the country’s shores<\/a> each year.<\/p>\n

The Spanish government warned against “creating rifts and sterile conflicts driven by internal electoral motives” and said “we trust that pro-European sentiment, common sense and good faith prevail”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain announced it would temporarily establish border controls for flights and ships from Italy as a row between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18947,24908,24701,25641,5,148,24890,25573],"class_list":["post-38804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-border-checks","tag-border-controls","tag-ceuta","tag-government-of-italy","tag-italy","tag-spain","tag-spanish-authorities","tag-spanish-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}