Story by Jakub Krupa
Spanish soldiers control as migrants cross back to Morocco after they crossed the border to enter Spain’s north Africa’s Ceuta enclave© Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images
LIVE – Updated at 18:43
The measure will impact people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries.
Meloni confirms ‘extraordinary’ measure to reinstate border controls with Spain
Just as we closed the blog, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has confirmed the move to suspend the free movement with on air and sea borders with Spain.
She said it was “an extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation.”
In another sign that it may stop short of full border control for all arrivals from Spain, she said “the measure will be kept in force only for the time necessary, with particular attention to limiting any impact on summer tourist flows.”
She added that “Italy is ready to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the Union’s external borders and to address the ongoing situation with determination.”
“Defending borders means defending the safety of citizens, combating irregular immigration, and striking at the criminal networks that traffic human beings,” she said.
Italy to carry out ‘targeted, selective’ checks on non-EU nationals from Spain
We are getting a bit more detail on what the Italian decision will mean in practice.
The Italian interior ministry said border police would carry out “targeted, selective checks” on third-country nationals arriving from Spain to verify that they had the documents needed for travel within the European Union, Reuters reported.
It looks like not everyone is Italy sees the need to adopt these measures.
As Reuters noted, Meloni’s coalition, which came to power in 2022 promising to reduce illegal immigration, has faced strong pressure from a new far-right party led by former army general Roberto Vannacci, whose anti-migrant rhetoric has resonated with some voters.
“The problem is that this is a purely demagogic proposal, as usual designed for domestic consumption and to compete with Vannacci, without solving anything at all,” said Piero De Luca, a senior lawmaker with the centre-left Democratic Party.
Closing summary
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.
- At least 57 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after as many as 60,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco
- Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called it a “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”and blamed on misleading narratives spread by human traffickers.
- In response, Italy has moved to suspend its free-travel Schengen arrangements with Spain by sea and air, claiming it was necessary to safeguard the security of its citizens. It is understood it will amount to “targeted, selective checks” on third-country nationals arriving from Spain.
- But by Friday afternoon, the Spanish authorities claimed that a vast majority of the migrants have voluntarily returned to Morocco, with hundreds more going back by the hour as there was not onwards migration route to mainland Spain or the EU.
- The huge influx, which took place over the course of just 24 hours, overwhelmed the city of 85,000 people, triggered a political crisis for Madrid and led to a barrage of criticism from the US and other EU countries, including broader calls to suspend Spain’s membership of the Schengen area.
