The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, has positioned himself this Thursday in favor of suspending free movement in the Schengen area with Spain due to the migratory crisis in Ceuta, where hundreds of people have managed to access the autonomous city by circumventing the El Tarajal pier from Moroccan territory.
"I am in favor of closing the Schengen area with Spain and I have full confidence in the actions of the minister (of the Interior, Matteo) Piantedosi. Irregular and uncontrolled immigration poses a danger to national security," the minister noted in a brief message on social media.
The head of Italian diplomacy also stated that "the images coming from Ceuta demonstrate how the decision of the Madrid Government to grant Spanish citizenship, and therefore European, to more than 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking."
The proposal from Rome to activate the closure of the Schengen area with Spain comes after Ceuta faced this Thursday the most serious migratory episode since May 2021, with the continuous entry for hours of thousands of people, mostly young Moroccans, although also families with women and minors, who have reached the city by surrounding the Tarajal pier and bypassing the border fence.
In light of this scenario, the Spanish Government and Morocco have agreed to strengthen coordination to return "as soon as possible" all the people who have accessed irregularly, while the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has emphasized that both countries are collaborating to restore normalcy and the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, will travel this Friday to Ceuta to manage the crisis on-site.