Italy and Spain lift border controls after months of tension over Ceuta

More than 70,000 radical irregularly crossed from Morocco into Ceuta successful precocious July, triggering borderline information concerns successful the EU bloc.

Italy and Spain person agreed to assistance borderline controls connected each ⁠other’s citizens, ending a ⁠three-month standoff triggered aft a wide surge of migrants and asylum seekers entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska ⁠spoke connected the telephone and agreed not to widen ⁠their suspension of the ⁠European Union’s open-border Schengen arrangements, an Italian connection said connected Thursday.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Migrant children protestation aft constabulary wide formation campy successful Ceuta
• list 2 of 3Vox rises arsenic Sanchez battles governmental turmoil: Could Spain plaything right?
• list 3 of 3Europe is successful trouble, and it is blaming Muslims

“The decision, reached aft a cautious appraisal of ‌the situation, volition beryllium accompanied by enhanced information-sharing measures to guarantee the afloat information ‌of ‌the communal Schengen area,” the ministry added.

The determination followed a gathering betwixt Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez connected the sidelines of a European Council meeting.

Italy’s right-wing authorities archetypal suspended its open-border arrangements ‌with Spain connected July 31, saying it wanted to marque definite nary migrants entering the North African enclave of Ceuta could question to Italian territory.

Madrid responded by taking akin enactment against Rome, describing the ⁠Italian measures arsenic “unjust, contrary ⁠to European Union interests, and discriminatory to the colonisation of Spain”.

Migrants arrived connected Tarajal Beach aft crossing the borderline from Morocco into Ceuta connected July 30 and 31, 2026 [File: Adri Salido/Getty Images]

Ceuta migrant surge

The tit-for-tat borderline closures happened aft upwards of 70,000 radical swam astir barricades and entered Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco connected July 30 and 31, fuelling hostility successful the Spanish territory.

Most returned to Morocco wrong hours, but thousands, including unaccompanied minors, person remained for weeks successful often dire conditions.

“We thought our authorities was going to bash thing successful the abbreviated oregon mean term, but we’ve been present for 2 months, and these radical haven’t been sent back,” Ceuta nonmigratory Ruben Gonzalez said.

The Spanish government’s handling of the wide crossing of migrants into Ceuta has analyzable Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s bid for re-election successful November.

Sanchez was already facing disapproval for his government’s determination to unfastened a way to ineligible presumption for hundreds of thousands of undocumented overseas residents.

After the Ceuta incident, Far-right Vox and centre-right PP parties accused him of being brushed connected migration and enactment the contented astatine the centre of their campaigns successful the run-up to adjacent month’s elections.