The Madrid government has extended until September 22 the port and airport checks for passengers arriving in Spain by sea and air via Italy. The measure, which began on August 7 and was originally scheduled to end on September 7, will therefore continue for another 15 days.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said that, since August 8, it had monitored 1,066 flights carrying a total of 12,000 passengers from third countries.
Madrid responds to Rome’s decision
The Italian government suspended free movement with Spain under the Schengen Agreement on August 1, citing national security concerns linked to the irregular migration crisis in Ceuta. Italy, which has no land border with Spain, introduced border checks for passengers traveling by sea and air.
Spain asked the Italian government to lift the restrictions, but the request produced no result. Madrid subsequently decided on August 7 that passengers arriving from Italy by sea and air would undergo border checks until September 7.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the decision to extend the checks had been taken after expert assessments. Piantedosi said the expert analyses showed that the reasons for the measures remained valid and praised the Spanish government’s efforts with the European Union to overcome the situation.
Spain’s Interior Ministry announced immediately after Piantedosi’s statement that it had extended its own checks until September 22.
Irregular migration activity in Ceuta
The irregular migration activity toward Ceuta lies at the heart of the political tensions between Italy and Spain. Approximately 70,000 irregular migrants crossed by sea and land from the coast of the Moroccan town of Fnideq to Ceuta, Spain’s North African territory, on July 30 and 31.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government had mobilized all available resources in response to the incident. The Spanish government also decided to deploy the armed forces to the area to ensure security after an increase in attempts to reach Ceuta.
Sanchez said approximately 5,000 irregular migrants remained in Ceuta, including 1,200 children.
The border-control decisions taken by the two countries were not fully implemented. No checks were carried out at airports on numerous flights.
