Italy’s tighter checks on non-EU travelers from Spain have triggered matching Spanish controls, disrupting summer travel between the two countries after a migrant surge at Ceuta.
Roughly 72,000 people tried to cross into the Spanish exclave in late July, and Rome says Madrid’s response left Schengen’s internal free movement exposed to external-border failures.
Giorgia Meloni has refused to lift the measures, citing another expected rush around August 15; Morocco said it arrested more than 111 would-be migrants before that attempt, with local media putting the figure near 300.
Pedro Sánchez called Italy’s move unjust and politically motivated, arguing Ceuta is under control and pointing to Frontex data showing 470,600 irregular entries via Italy since 2021 versus Spain’s 234,760.
The clash has widened into an EU debate: 22 leaders backed an extraordinary interior ministers’ meeting, while Ceuta’s mayor says the city still faces an unsustainable migrant backlog.