New Spanish border checks target air and sea travelers from Italy starting Saturday

Spain imposes entry checks at airports and ports

According to Укрінформ — Мігранти: Starting at midnight Saturday and running through September 7, Spain will require passport, citizenship, and visa checks for airline passengers and ship travelers arriving from Italy. The measure applies to Italian citizens and to foreigners whose journey begins there. It will remain in force as long as Italy continues its own internal border controls. Such checks are unusual in Europe's Schengen travel zone, where passport-free movement is the normal rule.

The Spanish government links this decision to the large influx of roughly 72,000 people at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in late July. On July 31, Spain's Interior Ministry reported that nearly 50,000 migrants had crossed from Morocco into Ceuta within a single day. Later, Spanish officials stated that over 48,300 undocumented migrants had been sent back to Morocco from Ceuta.

Spain and Italy clash over border policy

Italy has rejected Spain's warnings of retaliation should Rome refuse to remove its border controls at internal air and sea frontiers. Madrid has pressed Italy to end those checks and cautioned that it might adopt "proportionate measures" to protect Spanish citizens' interests. At the same time, leaders of 22 EU member states have urged an immediate and coordinated European response to the situation in Ceuta.

Spain continues to implement what it sees as necessary actions to handle the ongoing strain of irregular migration. This decision highlights the serious border-control challenges facing European nations, and the dispute between Madrid and Rome could sharpen tensions and undermine joint EU efforts on migration policy.

As Spain enforces these new border checks, tensions with Italy remain high. The ongoing standoff over border policies is a significant aspect of the broader challenges Europe faces regarding migration management. To understand the implications of this dispute and the potential impact on EU cooperation, read more about how Italy is maintaining its border controls despite Spain's demands in this related article.