Spain imposes checks on Italians as Ceuta migrant crisis fuels EU row

Madrid,UPDATED: Aug 8, 2026 18:38 IST

A diplomatic row between Spain and Italy has escalated after Madrid announced border checks on Italian travellers in response to Rome's decision to impose restrictions on visitors from Spain. The dispute comes after a rush of tens of thousands of migrants to Spain's North African territory of Ceuta late last month.

Spain said the checks would remain in place for at least a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rejected Madrid's warning that it would take "proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens" if Rome did not lift its own restrictions by an Aug. 9 deadline.

According to Spain's state news agency EFE, Italians arriving at Barcelona airport were subjected to random police checks after the controls came into effect overnight. Italy began enforcing air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens on Aug. 1 after Meloni sharply criticised the migration policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The dispute was triggered by the sudden arrival of 72,000 migrants from Morocco in Ceuta. Although most have since returned, more than 80 migrants died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede while trying to cross a breakwater barrier, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.

The influx in Ceuta also revived the immigration debate within the European Union, with EU leaders criticising Sanchez over policies they said were behind the large-scale arrivals. Leaders with a hard line on migration, including Meloni, pointed to measures such as Spain's decision to grant an amnesty to immigrants without residency permits who could prove they had lived in the country for at least five months and had arrived before Jan. 1 this year. More than 1 million people applied before the window closed at the end of last month.

The 27-member EU has the Schengen area, which allows citizens of most member countries to travel across borders without visas for work and leisure. Under EU rules, member states can temporarily bring back controls at internal borders in the event of a serious threat, including to internal security, but such measures should be a last resort in exceptional situations and must be time-limited.

Meloni's office said on Friday that Italian authorities "have no intention" of lifting checks on people arriving from Spain by sea or air until at least Aug. 15, six days after Spain's deadline. "Italy does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad about national security and border control," the statement said. It added that, if there was another wave of migrant arrivals in Ceuta, Italy would review its decision "only when we are certain that there will be no security or terrorist risks for Italy, that there will be no new wave, and that there are no irregular migrants heading towards European territory". The row has therefore widened from a migration crisis in Ceuta into a broader dispute over border controls and security within the EU.

With PTI Inputs

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