Spain Imposes Border Controls on Italian Travelers Amid Immigration Dispute

A dispute over immigration escalated Saturday after the government in Madrid announced border controls on Italian travelers in retaliation for Rome’s restrictions on visitors from Spain.

Spain has reinstated temporary border controls on travelers arriving from Italy amid a disagreement over migration and movement within Europe’s Schengen area, which contains more than 450 million people.

The Spanish Interior Ministry order, published Sunday in the Official State Gazette, imposes controls for 30 days on passenger flights and ships arriving from Italy. The checks began Aug. 8 and are scheduled to remain in place through Sept. 7, although officials said they could be lifted earlier.

The Schengen Agreement covers 29 European countries and generally allows travel between them without routine border checks. Countries can temporarily restore internal controls in exceptional circumstances.

Italy announced its border controls with Spain on July 31 after a huge influx of migrants flooded into Ceuta, Spanish territory located on the northern coast of Africa, saying the measure was necessary for security. An estimated 60,000 unlawful entrants from North Africa came into Ceuta, according to the Italian government.

Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the northern coast of Africa and, with Melilla, forms the EU’s only land border with Africa.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in an Aug. 1 post on X that the events in Ceuta demonstrated the need for Europe to respond to illegal immigration. She said Italy and Denmark had promoted a letter signed by 22 EU member states calling for joint action to strengthen the bloc’s external borders.

Meloni had said a day earlier: “On illegal immigration, we will not yield an inch: defending the borders, stopping human traffickers, and ensuring effective repatriations will continue to be the line of this Government.”

Spain acted after Italy imposed similar controls on travelers arriving from Spain following the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa. Italy said its restrictions were intended to prevent migrants from moving onward into Italian territory.

Spain demanded that Italy remove the controls. After Italy refused, Spain announced reciprocal measures, according to Spain’s state-owned news agency EFE.

Spanish officials said the checks will be random and risk-based to minimize disruptions to travel. By Saturday evening, police had checked 199 travelers from non-European Union countries arriving from Italy on 12 flights at several Spanish airports.

The Spanish government said the measures are intended to address what it described as a serious threat to public order and internal security while preserving the free movement principles of the Schengen Agreement.