ITALY has announced it is suspending the Schengen free movement agreement with Spain following the chaotic scenes seen this week in Ceuta, one of two small pockets of Spanish territory located on the north African coast.
According to regional president Juan Jesus Vivas, around 60,000 migrants breached the border separating Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco on Thursday and Friday in what is believed to represent the single largest day of irregular arrivals in EU history.
The huge influx prompted a wave of anger from leaders across the bloc, who blamed Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez for the apparent total collapse in European border security.
On Friday evening, Italy’s right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni said her government would reintroduce border controls for maritime and air links with Spain amid fears that tens of thousands of undocumented migrants could flood into mainland Europe.
“The government has decided to temporarily suspend the free movement regime provided for by Schengen in maritime and air connections with Spain, reintroducing border controls,” she wrote on X.
“This is an extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation.
“The measure will be kept in force only for the time necessary, with particular attention to limiting any impact on summer tourist flows.”
The Italian government later clarified that the new restriction would only apply to non-EU citizens, meaning no change for Spanish and other European travellers heading to Italy this August.
READ MORE: The history behind Ceuta and Melilla – how Spain came to own two cities on mainland Africa
The announcement sparked widespread furore in Madrid.
Foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares pushed back sharply, noting that ‘the vast majority of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco’ and pointing out that it is impossible to travel from Ceuta to mainland Spain without passing through police controls.
“The integrity of the Schengen area is absolutely guaranteed. Enough of this deliberate confusion,” he said.
Sanchez also hit back, citing data from the EU’s Frontex border force showing that 478,000 people entered Italy illegally between 2021 and 2026 – more than double the number that entered Spain during the same period.
On Saturday morning, Sanchez sent an official letter to Brussels complaining about the behaviour of some of his European allies amid the ongoing crisis.
According to the Spanish government, around 48,300 of those who poured into Ceuta in the dramatic scenes seen this week have since returned to Morocco.
None of those who arrived have been able to reach the Spanish mainland.
Tragically, the death toll from the chaos has risen to 67, according to Spain’s interior ministry, after more bodies were plucked from the Mediterranean Sea.
Moroccan authorities said late on Friday that they had arrested 70 people for their alleged involvement in violent clashes in the border zone.
Those detained are being investigated for offences including attempted murder, arson and damage to public and private property, according to sources close to the investigation cited by El Pais.
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