{"id":67407,"date":"2026-08-07T19:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/67407\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T19:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:13:09","slug":"spain-gives-italy-until-august-9-to-end-border-checks-rome-rejects-ultimatum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/67407\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain Gives Italy Until August 9 to End Border Checks, Rome Rejects Ultimatum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabat \u2013 Spain has given Italy until August 9 to end selective border checks on people arriving by air and sea from Spain, warning that it will take \u201cproportionate\u201d measures if Rome refuses to lift them, El Pa\u00eds reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dispute<\/a> follows Italy\u2019s decision to temporarily reinstate internal border controls with arrivals from Spain after tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish-occupied enclave of Ceuta last week.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, the Spanish government described<\/a> Italy\u2019s decision as \u201cunjust, contrary to the interests of the EU, and discriminatory against the Spanish population.\u201d Madrid also criticized Rome for introducing the checks without prior notice and unilaterally, arguing that they were not justified under the Schengen Borders Code.<\/p>\n

Spain stressed that entering Ceuta does not automatically give migrants access to the Schengen area and said most of those who entered the enclave have since returned to Morocco.<\/p>\n

Italy defends temporary checks<\/p>\n

Italy has rejected<\/a> Spain\u2019s criticism and said it will maintain the controls until August 15, Italy\u2019s new agency ANSA reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cItaly does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad about national security and border control,\u201d Foreign Minister Giorgia Meloni\u2019s office said today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no intention of reconsidering the decision to suspend the application of the Schengen Agreement for third-country nationals arriving from Spain, at least until August 15, and, in any case, until security and terrorism risks for Italy have been completely eliminated,\u201d added the statement.<\/p>\n

It added that the measures were introduced because of security concerns and the possibility of further irregular migration toward Ceuta. \u201cOn that date, as announced by the Spanish authorities themselves, a new wave of migrants is expected in Ceuta.<\/p>\n

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said during an emergency conference call of EU interior ministers this week that the temporary reinstatement of air and maritime border controls was \u201cin no way a measure directed against Spain or any other partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the decision as a precautionary and organizational measure aimed at protecting national security and the wider European border-control system during a period of pressure.<\/p>\n

Italy also expressed its \u201csincere solidarity\u201d with the Spanish government. The Italian government has argued that the controls are temporary and consistent with measures used by European countries in other situations.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic tensions rise\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest exchange marks a further escalation in tensions between Madrid and Rome following the Ceuta migration crisis.<\/p>\n

Spanish Foreign Minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares has criticized Italy\u2019s response, arguing that European countries should have shown greater solidarity with Spain during the crisis.<\/p>\n

Madrid has also pointed to Italy\u2019s own experience with irregular migration, particularly arrivals through the Mediterranean, and said Spain has previously supported Italy by accepting migrants and allowing rescued migrants to use its ports.<\/p>\n

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has rejected the criticism, highlighting a decline in irregular migration to Italy since 2023 and defending Rome\u2019s decision to restore temporary border controls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabat \u2013 Spain has given Italy until August 9 to end selective border checks on people arriving by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26721,17,26722],"class_list":["post-67407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-ceuta-migration","tag-spain","tag-spain-and-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67407","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=67407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}