The Spanish Executive has urged Italy to immediately lift the suspension of the "Schengen area" decreed after the migratory crisis in Ceuta more than a week ago, and has set a margin of three days, until Sunday, August 9, to reverse the measure or, otherwise, "Spain will be forced to adopt proportional measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens."
Government sources have urged Giorgia Meloni's cabinet to change course, "end the controls and treat Spaniards like the rest of European citizens."
From Moncloa, they denounce that on August 1, Italy reintroduced "border controls with Spain," directly impacting "the mobility of thousands of passengers and generating legal insecurity during the summer period."
The Government reminds that this decision has been applied "without precedent in recent history," in addition to having been taken "without prior notice, unilaterally, and with spurious arguments that do not conform to either the Schengen Border Code or the truth." They emphasize that "it is unjust, contrary to the interests of the EU, and discriminatory towards the Spanish population."
The Executive insists that Meloni overlooks that none of the migrants who entered irregularly in Ceuta the previous week "could or can enter freely into the Schengen area because the autonomous city" has "a special regime within it." They also add that the "vast majority" of illegal migrants "have already returned to Morocco."
In line with what the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has stated, the same sources remind that Italy is, according to Frontex, the "member state that has recorded the most irregular crossings in recent years, with figures that have reached double those of Spain" and that its Executive, since 2022, "does not comply with the Dublin Regulation, generating an additional burden of migratory pressure on the rest" of European partners.
Despite this, the Spanish Government emphasizes that "it has never introduced controls for Italy and has always shown solidarity," welcoming "part of the migrants who arrived in Lampedusa in 2023 and repeatedly opening its ports to migrants who are rescued on the central Mediterranean route."
An open diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rome
On July 31, the Italian Government decided to temporarily suspend the "Schengen" agreement with Spain, blocking free movement at maritime and air borders and activating controls linked to the migration crisis in Ceuta, a decision that Rome has justified as essential to "safeguard national security."
Italian authorities pointed out that these border controls would not affect the situation of Italian, Spanish, or other Schengen area citizens traveling to Italy, and that they would only apply to nationals of third countries arriving from Spain. However, at airports like Rome or Venice, a specific line has been set up at the control for passengers coming exclusively from Spain, where they must present their documentation.
The closure of the "Schengen area" has led to a diplomatic crisis between both countries, which included the summoning in Madrid of the Italian ambassador, Giuseppe Buccino. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, also reproached his Italian counterpart for linking the massive arrival of migrants to Ceuta with regularization, labeling that stance as "partisan demagoguery."
Marlaska rules out risk for Schengen
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, publicly demanded that Italy withdraw the controls at the border with Spain, emphasizing that there has been no danger to the "Schengen area" because, as he stressed, no one can leave Ceuta and Melilla without identification. In this context, he indicated that his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, expressed "recognition" for the work of Pedro Sánchez's Government in the face of the Ceuta crisis.
In the meeting with the other European Interior ministers, Marlaska added that he does not understand the imposition of controls, as, in his opinion, there is no real risk that these migrants will cross to the peninsula and then move through other EU States.
For his part, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, defended that Rome's decision to exclude Spain from "Schengen" "is in accordance with the treaties" of the European Union, arguing that there are migrants in the autonomous city of Ceuta who cannot be deported.
"What will become of them? Where will they go?", asked the head of Italian diplomacy, in a post in which he took the opportunity to emphasize that "the new EU Pact on asylum and migration has a marked Italian character, following the trail of the teachings of Silvio Berlusconi and the governments he led".
In a message addressed to his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, he also boasted that Rome has reduced the entry of irregular migrants by 60% since 2023, while in the first seven months of 2026, landings have decreased by 80% compared to the same period three years earlier.