A diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy over the push of tens of hundreds of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta escalated on Saturday after the federal government in Madrid introduced border controls on Italian vacationers in response to Rome’s determination to impose sanctions on guests from Spain.
Italians arriving at Barcelona airport had been topic to random police checks after the controls had been implement in a single day, based on Spain’s state information company EFE.
The Spanish authorities stated the controls would keep in place for not less than a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rejected Spain’s warning on Friday that it could take “proportionate measures to guard the pursuits and dignity of its residents” if Rome didn’t elevate its personal restrictions by an Aug. 9 deadline.
Italy started imposing air and sea border controls on Spanish residents on Aug. 1 following Meloni’s scathing criticism of the progressive migration insurance policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The feud was triggered after the sudden arrival of 72,000 migrants from Morocco at Spain’s North African territory late final month. Though a lot of the migrants have since gone again, greater than 80 migrants died, together with some who drowned or had been trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, based on Spanish and Moroccan authorities.
Get breaking Nationwide information
Get breaking Canada information delivered to your inbox because it occurs so you will not miss a trending story.
The migrant rush on Ceuta additionally reignited the immigration debate inside the European Union, whose leaders criticized Sanchez for insurance policies that they urged had been accountable for the huge inflow.
Hawkish EU leaders like Meloni pointed to such insurance policies, together with a Spanish authorities determination to hold out an amnesty for immigrants with out residency permits who might show that they had been residing within the nation for not less than 5 months and arrived earlier than Jan. 1 this 12 months. Over 1 million individuals utilized earlier than the window closed on the finish of final month.
The 27-member EU bloc has a visa-free journey space often called Schengen that enables residents of most EU international locations to journey simply throughout borders for work and pleasure.
In response to the EU, member states are allowed to quickly reintroduce controls on the EU’s so-called inner borders in case of a critical risk, reminiscent of one to inner safety. However it additionally says border controls ought to be utilized as a final resort in distinctive conditions, and have to be time-limited.
Meloni’s workplace on Friday stated Italian authorities “haven’t any intention” of lifting border checks on individuals arriving from Spain by sea or air till not less than Aug. 15 — six days after the Spanish deadline.
“Italy doesn’t settle for ultimatums or impositions from overseas about nationwide safety and border management,” an announcement stated.
Ought to there be a repeat of migrant arrivals in Ceuta, Italy would evaluation its determination to impose the checks “solely after we are sure that there shall be no safety or terrorist dangers for Italy, that there shall be no new wave, and that there are not any irregular migrants heading in the direction of European territory,” the assertion added.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
