Spain introduces border checks for travelers from Italy
Spain has imposed temporary border controls at ports and airports for travelers arriving from Italy starting August 8, amid a dispute between the two countries over illegal migration. Checks are set to last at least until September 7.
The Spanish government introduced temporary passport, citizenship and visa checks at ports and airports on August 8 for travelers arriving from Italy, according to Germany's Deutsche Welle, citing Reuters.
The measure stems from an escalating dispute between the two countries over illegal migration. The controls are planned to remain in place until at least September 7.
Background of the dispute
Spain had earlier warned it would impose restrictions on travelers from Italy if Rome did not lift the border controls it introduced last week by August 9 — controls Italy had put in place over a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish city of Ceuta. Italy responded that it would not accept ultimatums or dictates from Madrid and would keep the Schengen agreement suspended for third-country nationals arriving from Spain until at least August 15.
According to Reuters, relations between Madrid and Rome — between Italy's right-wing government and the cabinet of Spain's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez — are currently at their lowest point since the European Union's founding.
The Ceuta crisis
The crisis in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta unfolded on July 30–31, when at least 50,000 people crossed into the small territory from Morocco by sea and land. Spain was forced to deploy army units to Ceuta to restore order. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, by the evening of July 31 the vast majority of illegal migrants had voluntarily returned to Morocco by land, facing a lack of food and shelter in Ceuta and being unable to reach mainland Spain, which is separated from Ceuta by the Strait of Gibraltar.
