Spain threatens retaliation if Italy fails to lift border controls after Ceuta migrant crossings

Spain has warned it will introduce counter-measures against Italy unless Rome lifts border controls imposed after a mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

Roughly 78,000 migrants from neighbouring Morocco arrived in Ceuta by sea within a matter of hours last Thursday and Friday, with around 100 people dying during the crossings. In response, Italy partially suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, closing maritime and air entry points and reinforcing land border checks.

On Friday, Spain called Italy's move "unjustified" and "discriminatory against the Spanish population," demanding it be reversed by Sunday, 9 August. Madrid said it would otherwise introduce "proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens," without specifying what these would involve.

Italy quickly rejected the warning, saying it would not accept "ultimatums or impositions" from Madrid and intends to keep its border checks in place until at least 15 August, the date Italy said Spain itself expects a fresh wave of migration toward Ceuta.

Cause still unclear

Why tens of thousands of migrants attempted the crossing at once remains unclear. The EU's Migration Commissioner, Magnus Brunner, has pointed to criminal networks spreading disinformation, a view shared by the Spanish government. The crossings followed a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court that migrants intercepted at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.

The episode has also strained relations among EU states within the open-border Schengen area. Finland and Denmark backed Italy's decision to suspend the agreement, while the Czech Republic called for Spain's Schengen membership to be temporarily suspended. Morocco has placed blame on Spain's Supreme Court ruling, and Moroccan media are reporting fresh online calls for another coordinated mass crossing attempt.

Spain's Youth Minister, Sira Rego, said on Friday that nearly 1,400 minors, including very young children, remain in Ceuta following last week's crossings, adding that the system had been overwhelmed but was gradually being brought under control, with priority given to the most vulnerable cases.