Italy Extends Spain Border Checks As Ceuta Migration Feud Deepens

Italy has extended border checks on travellers arriving from Spain for another 15 days, keeping alive a diplomatic dispute that began after a mass migrant surge into Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta in July.

The decision, announced on Tuesday, September 15, means Italy’s temporary suspension of normal Schengen arrangements with Spain will continue for another two weeks. Spain has also extended its reciprocal checks on people arriving from Italy.

Italy initially introduced the measures after more than 72,000 migrants poured into Ceuta from Morocco in late July. Rome said the controls were necessary because of risks to internal security and the possibility of terrorist infiltration. The checks involve random police controls at airports and seaports for passengers arriving from Spain.

Italy’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that “high risks to internal security persist”, along with a potential threat linked to terrorist infiltration. The government has informed the European Union and other European countries about the extension.

Spain responded with its own checks on travellers from Italy. Madrid said the measures would remain because the circumstances that prompted them, namely Italy’s restrictions, had not changed.

The dispute has also exposed political differences over migration policy. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government and other European critics have used the Ceuta crisis to question Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s approach, including his plan to regularise undocumented migrants. More than one million people applied under the legalisation programme before the application window closed.

Freshly released intelligence documents have added another layer to the controversy. Spain’s intelligence agency, the CNI, warned Moroccan authorities and Spanish officials a day before the July 30 surge that large groups were preparing to cross into Ceuta. The warnings were partly based on social media activity, although Spanish officials said they did not know the scale of the impending operation.

The Ceuta crisis also had a heavy human cost. NGOs reported that more than 140 migrants died while attempting to cross, including people who drowned or were caught in a stampede. Thousands remained in Ceuta after the mass arrival, creating a prolonged humanitarian and political crisis. Recent estimates put the number still in the territory at up to 10,000.

The tit for tat measures are significant because Italy and Spain are part of the 27 nation Schengen Area, where internal border checks are normally removed. EU rules allow temporary controls when there is a serious threat to internal security, but such measures are intended to be exceptional, proportionate and time limited.