The Spanish government has given Italy until the end of Sunday, August 9, to lift the border controls it imposed on travelers from Spain.
Madrid described the controls as a unilateral and unjustified step unprecedented in recent history. It said the measure disrupted the travel of thousands of passengers during the busiest period of the summer season and created legal uncertainty.
Spain said it would take proportionate measures to protect the interests and reputation of its citizens if the controls were not ended.
Objection to the justification involving Ceuta
Spain also rejected Italy’s justification for the border controls, which was based on a mass influx of irregular migrants into Ceuta, the Spanish territory in North Africa. Madrid said Ceuta has a special status within the Schengen system and that migrants entering the area cannot move freely throughout Europe’s passport-free travel zone.
About 72,000 migrants who entered Ceuta on July 30 have returned to Morocco, most of them. Spain also said that irregular migrant arrivals in Italy were twice as high as those in Spain, but that it had never imposed border controls on Italy.
Madrid calls on Rome to act
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held a coordination meeting with his ministers to discuss the issue. The Spanish government called on the administration of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to end the controls and treat Spaniards in the same way as other European citizens.
The bodies of 80 migrants who died during the mass crossing in Ceuta were recovered. A total of 1,342 unaccompanied migrant children were registered, and efforts to identify them are continuing.
