"Like a torpedo into unity": Crisis between Spain and Italy intensifies

The Spanish government announced last night (Friday) that it will renew border controls for all arrivals from Italy, starting from midnight until September 7. The move is a response to the restrictions imposed by Rome a week ago on travelers from Spain, following the mass breach of about 72,000 infiltrators into Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa.

In practice, this is a temporary suspension of the Schengen Agreement on free movement between the two countries. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior justified the move "in light of the ongoing pressure of irregular migration," the phrasing used by the Italian statement against Spain a week ago.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called the Italian move "a torpedo fired into the body of European unity." During the day, the Spanish government called on Rome to retract the restrictions by the end of this coming Sunday, and threatened that if it does not do so, "Spain will be forced to take proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office replied that Rome "does not intend to reconsider the decision" before August 15, and clarified that:

"Italy does not accept ultimatums or dictates from outside when it comes to national security and border control."

It was further stated that Rome will reconsider its decision only when there is "certainty that there are no security or terrorist risks to Italy, that there is no new wave underway, and that there are no illegal migrants on their way to European soil." Rome attributed the choice of the August 15 date to the assessments of the Spanish authorities themselves, according to which a new wave of migration to Ceuta is expected on that day. However, in practice, according to reports in the Spanish media, the police in Madrid have only been monitoring rumors on social networks in recent weeks about another wave, and the authorities themselves have not yet confirmed that they expect this.

The decision by Rome to renew border control against Madrid a week ago was the first practical step taken by a country in the European Union against Spain since the outbreak of the border crisis. Parallel to the suspension of Schengen arrangements, Meloni, alongside other leaders in the EU, called for Spain to be suspended entirely from the Schengen area. During those days, it was also agreed between Rome and Paris to tighten checks on the land border between Italy and France.