Spain to introduce temporary border controls at its ports and airports for travelers from Italyin response to similar measures imposed by Rome after the massive influx of migrants in Ceuta, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday.
These controls, put in place “in the face of the persistence of irregular migratory pressure” that Italy is facing, will begin on Saturday at midnight and will last until September 7, the ministry said in a press release.
72,000 migrants in Ceuta
This rare falling out between two EU and NATO allies comes after 72,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco to the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in North Africa, last week, in a movement of unprecedented scale.
Scenes strongly criticized by other EU countries favoring a hard line on irregular immigration and the protection of the bloc’s external borders, including the far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The Italian government assured Friday that it “under no circumstances intends to reverse the decision to suspend the application of the Schengen Agreement (editor’s note: free movement of people) to third-country nationals coming from Spain, at least until August 15.”
The Spanish government once again castigated this Italian measure which it described as “unfair, contrary to the interests of the EU and discriminatory for the Spanish population”.
