{"id":63982,"date":"2026-07-31T21:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/63982\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T21:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:09:25","slug":"italy-suspends-eu-schengen-free-travel-pact-with-spain-over-ceuta-migrant-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/63982\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy suspends EU Schengen free-travel pact with Spain over Ceuta migrant crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Italy said on Friday it \u2060was suspending the EU\u2019s \u2060border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month in \u2060response to a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Italy does not share a land border with Spain but the measure \u2013 which looks certain to anger Madrid \u2013 will \u200caffect people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries, meaning they will need to show a passport to gain access.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Italy\u2019s interior ministry said in a statement it had also agreed with Paris to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian land border to try to prevent any undocumented migrants from crossing.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Critics \u2060of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\u2019s right-wing government dismissed the move as a symbolic gesture \u200caimed at a domestic political audience, with no evidence that the migrants in Ceuta had any intention of heading to Italy.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The decision \u200cto halt the Schengen pact came after Spain said it had reversed \u2060the rush of \u2060migrants into its enclave in North Africa, with most of the more than 50,000 people who \u200chad crossed the border heading back voluntarily.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday. Photo: AP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5239ede8-20bd-4822-b5c8-24f4ebe7693e_e4241645.jpg\" title=\"Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday. Photo: AP\"\/>Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday. Photo: AP<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Meloni\u2019s coalition, which came to power in 2022 promising to reduce illegal immigration, \u200chas faced \u200cstrong pressure from a new far-right party led by former army general \u200cRoberto Vannacci, whose anti-migrant rhetoric has resonated with some voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italy said on Friday it \u2060was suspending the EU\u2019s \u2060border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3299,22066,2164,25844,4446,866,82,8113,2264,1895,25843,25841,1996,25842,17],"class_list":["post-63982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-ceuta","tag-democratic-party","tag-eu","tag-franco-italian-land-border","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-italy","tag-madrid","tag-meloni","tag-morocco","tag-paris","tag-piero-de-luca","tag-roberto-vannacci","tag-schengen-area","tag-schengen-pact","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}