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Spain threatened to impose retaliatory measures against Italy on Friday if Rome does not immediately lift the border checks it introduced following a recent migrant surge in Ceuta.
The dispute escalated after thousands of migrants crossed into Spain’s North African territory from Morocco, prompting Italy’s far-right government to temporarily suspend its Schengen free-travel agreement with Spain.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares criticised the move as discriminatory and harmful to European unity, giving Italy until Sunday, August 9, to abolish the controls or face proportional Spanish reprisals.
Italy swiftly rejected the ultimatum, confirming that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration will maintain air and maritime checks on third-country nationals arriving from Spain until at least August 15.
Italian officials justified the extraordinary measures by citing national security risks and potential secondary migration waves ahead of rumoured mid-August crossings.
Meanwhile, humanitarian concerns deepen in Ceuta, where thousands of remaining migrants—including hundreds of unaccompanied children—face severe shortages of food, water, and shelter following border clashes that resulted in dozens of deaths.
