Italy suspends free movement with Spain: Is Schengen in crisis after Ceuta?

On July 30, days aft much than 60,000 radical crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, Italy announced it was reintroducing borderline controls with Spain.

Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesus Vivas, told broadcaster Telecinco that betwixt 3,000 and 5,000 migrants stay successful the enclave, arsenic the immense bulk person returned. At slightest 72 radical died successful the crossing.

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Because Italy and Spain bash not stock a onshore border, the measurement affects radical travelling betwixt the 2 countries by aerial and sea.

“In Italy, a batch of the media sum was saying [Italian Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni is suspending Schengen, oregon that Spain should beryllium removed from Schengen,” Davide Colombi, a researcher successful the Justice and Home Affairs portion astatine the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), told Al Jazeera. “Neither of those options is really disposable … you cannot footwear a state retired of Schengen.”

The Schengen Agreement, signed successful 1985 and enactment into unit a decennary later, abolished passport checks astatine the interior borders of its 29 subordinate states, creating 1 of the world’s largest zones of escaped movement.

Colombi explained that suspending Schengen “doesn’t needfully mean anything”.

“One subordinate authorities cannot suspend Schengen. What it tin bash is temporarily reintroduce interior borderline controls,” helium said.

Such controls are, successful fact, a well-worn diagnostic of the passport-free zone.

According to the Asylum Information Database (AIDA), tally by the European Council connected Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), astatine slightest six subordinate states – Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden – person kept immoderate signifier of interior controls astir continuously since 2015, and 9 states maintained them passim 2025.

Europe’s exile situation peaked successful 2015, erstwhile much than a cardinal radical arrived successful the European Union. Germany reinstated borderline controls with Austria aft astir 40,000 arrivals successful 1 weekend; Austria, France, Sweden, Norway and Denmark soon followed.

‘Nothing much than governmental theatre’

But Italy’s determination represents “the archetypal clip that a state has unilaterally reinstated Schengen borderline controls based connected a ample fig of arrivals successful a state with which it doesn’t stock interior borders,” said Eleonora Testi, ECRE’s elder ineligible officer.

Colombi was much nonstop astir the applicable logic. “There is nary realistic anticipation for anybody from Ceuta to get successful Italy,” helium said.

Neither expert sees the measurement arsenic a effect to Ceuta itself truthful overmuch arsenic a template to show that a subordinate authorities tin invoke Schengen’s exigency provisions implicit a situation unfolding successful different territory, for reasons that are much governmental than operational.

That speechmaking is echoed by rights groups.

“Italy’s reintroduction of borderline controls with Spain is thing much than governmental theatre. It’s a savvy manipulation of EU instrumentality to amusement that the authorities is ‘tough connected migration’, portion efficaciously lone causing problems to tourists and different radical travelling from Spain to Italy [on a Schengen visa],” said Chiara Catelli, advocacy serviceman astatine the Platform for International Cooperation connected Undocumented Migrants (PICUM).

People swam astir a borderline obstruction with Morocco to participate Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta connected July 31, 2026 [AFP]

Within days, 22 EU subordinate states signed a associated missive aligning with Italy’s position.

Testi contrasted this with the EU’s attraction of a comparable case, erstwhile Poland suspended the close to assertion asylum astatine its borderline with Belarus successful March 2025, successful what AIDA described arsenic a wide breach of EU and planetary law. There was nary equivalent amusement of member-state solidarity – instead, an EU regularisation was projected to assistance Warsaw negociate the crisis.

“There is simply a antithetic effect successful this case,” Testi said, “probably due to the fact that of the general governmental positions that Spain has held successful examination to astir different European subordinate states.”

At a clip erstwhile astir European countries displacement towards tougher borderline and asylum measures, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s socialist authorities successful Spain has pursued a comparatively wide migration policy, leaning connected economical integration and ineligible pathways alternatively than deterrence. Recently, Madrid invited undocumented radical to use for legalisation, allowing them to enactment – and much than a cardinal did so.

For Colombi, Ceuta is not wherever Schengen’s unravelling began.

“The domino effect started backmost successful 2015, and it’s been facilitated by the European Commission not doing thing astir it,” helium said.

Germany reintroduced controls with Poland successful 2023 and again successful 2025. Italy itself has maintained controls connected its borderline with Slovenia. In June 2026, the committee issued ceremonial opinions urging the 9 states with controls successful spot implicit 12 months to signifier them retired – guidance that appears to person had small applicable effect.

“If you person the 1 assemblage that is expected to enforce and instrumentality EU instrumentality not enforcing EU law,” Colombi said, “it fundamentally leaves each subordinate states doing immoderate they privation … responding to their nationalist electorate based connected fears that they themselves person created.”

That is the crux of the existential argument.

The European Pact connected Migration and Asylum, meant to administer work much reasonably crossed the bloc, became applicable connected June 12, hardly six weeks earlier Italy’s determination tested the script it was designed to manage.

“We’ve heard the communicative that the pact works, but lone if arrivals are kept debased … an asylum strategy has to relation adjacent successful times of emergency,” said Testi.

‘Migration is not the existential menace it’s portrayed to be’

The governmental wrangling implicit migration comes astatine a captious time. Elections are owed successful 2027 successful Italy, Spain and France.

“Depending connected however the governmental tide changes … determination mightiness beryllium centre-to-right-wing to utmost right-wing governments successful each of Europe,” she said, and with them, little appetite for solidarity erstwhile the adjacent state – “it could beryllium Greece adjacent time, it could beryllium Bulgaria” – faces a surge of arrivals.

What led to the deadly Ceuta crossings – Moroccan pressure, a Spanish tribunal ruling connected deportations, oregon Spain’s regularisation argumentation – has been debated.

Jorge Tamames of Madrid’s Elcano Royal Institute called it “first and foremost a security, diplomatic, and humanitarian challenge, not a migratory one”.

But immoderate caused the Ceuta crisis, the effect is what CEPS and ECRE respect arsenic the existent trial of the bloc’s cohesion.

“Schengen is not successful situation due to the fact that of what’s happening wrong the EU,” Colombi said. “It’s however subordinate states and the committee are dealing with these issues that is really dismantling Schengen, dismantling state of question for everybody … migration is not the existential menace it’s portrayed to be.”

He said the existent menace to the EU is what happens erstwhile subordinate states observe that invoking Schengen’s exigency powers against each other, for governmental reasons, carries nary existent cost.