Spain warns Italy of retaliation over continued border checks on Ceuta

Spain has warned that it will introduce "proportionate measures" if Italy does not reverse the border controls it put in place after roughly 78,000 migrants arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday and Friday. The crossings, which resulted in about 100 deaths, prompted Italy to partially suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain, closing maritime and air entry points and tightening land checks.

Madrid called the Italian move "unjustified" and "discriminatory against the Spanish population" and set a deadline of 9 August for its reversal. The Spanish statement did not detail the possible reprisals.

Italy responded that it would not accept "ultimatums or impositions" from Madrid and said the checks would stay in place until at least 15 August, citing expectations of a new wave of migration to Ceuta. The Italian government said the suspension was intended to prevent migrants who entered Ceuta from traveling onward to Italy, a rationale rejected by Spain as based on "spurious arguments".

The episode has strained relations between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and has drawn mixed reactions from other EU members: Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s action, while the Czech Republic called for a temporary suspension of Spain’s EU membership. The EU’s Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner suggested that criminal networks spreading disinformation may have fueled the mass crossing, a view echoed by the Spanish government.

The situation follows a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants intercepted at sea en route to Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco, a decision Morocco blames for the crisis. Moroccan media report online calls for a repeat of the mass crossing, while Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego said nearly 1,400 minors remain in Ceuta and that the situation is being brought under control.