The Official State Bulletin (BOE) has disseminated this Saturday the order of the Ministry of the Interior by which controls at the Spanish air and maritime internal borders for travelers arriving from Italy are expanded, remaining in effect until the next September 22.
In detail, the extension will be for 15 days and will apply from 00:00 hours on September 8 until 24:00 hours on September 22, 2026.
According to the official text, this measure will be subject to "permanent evaluation" and will cease to apply before the set date "when the threats that motivated its adoption disappear or when they can be effectively addressed through less restrictive measures."
The order, dated September 4 and signed by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, specifies that any new extension must be approved through a "new motivated decision," after an updated evaluation of its "necessity and proportionality" and respecting the requirements and procedures provided in the Schengen Borders Code.
CRISIS BETWEEN MADRID AND ROME OVER CEUTA
At the end of August, the Executive decided to extend the border controls for another 15 days for passengers entering the national territory by air or sea from Italy, after the government of Giorgia Meloni chose to extend the suspension of the Schengen agreement with Spain due to the Ceuta crisis.
These controls were implemented on August 8 with an initial period of one month and will be maintained for an additional 15 days following the Italian government's decision to extend the suspension of the Schengen agreement on free movement for the same period.
Thus, Italy continued to apply border controls to those arriving from Spain, amid a diplomatic conflict between Madrid and Rome over the management of the massive entry of migrants in Ceuta on July 30.
For the Italian authorities, the factors that justified the reintroduction, on August 1, of controls on arrivals by plane and boat from Spain were still present, although they also considered "the initiatives already undertaken by Spain, along with the European Union, to ensure that the situation in that area can move towards a forthcoming normalization."
The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, then spoke about these controls, stating that they make "no sense." In an interview on Cadena Ser, reported by Europa Press, he recalled that Spain provided assistance to Italy to host immigrants arriving on the island of Lampedusa and defended the importance of solidarity.
Sánchez also expressed his discomfort with the letter from 22 European leaders, including Meloni, in which the Spanish government's migration policy was questioned, and reiterated that he has always maintained that the European countries on the front line facing the arrival of irregular migration, such as Spain and Italy, require "the solidarity of Central European and Northern European countries."