Italy’s Interior Ministry has ordered the closure of the country’s sea and air borders with Spain, temporarily suspending the Schengen free movement regime between the two countries.
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The move was announced on Thursday evening by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini following the arrival of thousands of migrants in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta.
“The temporary suspension of Schengen with Spain is a necessary choice to safeguard the security of our citizens and defend the European borders. A measure provided for by the treaties and made unavoidable today,” Tajani wrote on X.
“The migrant crisis in Ceuta reminds us that the management of the Union’s borders is a shared responsibility among our countries, one toward the other. We must work together to prevent uncontrolled migrant flows from entering EU territory, with all the consequent risks and the threat of terrorism, which must be countered without hesitation.”
The decision was formally approved on Friday morning during a meeting at the Interior Ministry chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, based on assessments by Italy’s Committee for Migration Analysis and Border Security.
France has also decided to strengthen controls along its land border with Spain, President Emmanuel Macron announced, while offering support to the Spanish authorities to help manage the emergency in the North African enclave.
Spain and the EU react
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hit back at Italy on X, arguing that “solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European treaties and the facts is not.” He cited Frontex figures showing that Italy recorded more irregular entries than Spain between 2021 and 2026 and called for “a strong and united European Union.”
On Thursday evening, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares condemned his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani’s call to suspend the Schengen agreement and summoned Italy’s ambassador to Madrid for explanations.
According to Italy’s ANSA news agency, Spain’s Foreign Ministry stressed that the migration crisis in Ceuta “has nothing to do with the regularisation of migrants approved by the Spanish government”, but was instead triggered by an interpretation of the recent Supreme Court ruling on migrants who entered by swimming, which was “exploited by mafias and criminal organisations”.
By Friday, however, several EU countries had moved closer to Italy’s position, including Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
“Spain has completely failed to protect the external border of the Schengen area from incursions. This cannot continue,” Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen wrote on X.
“The situation in Ceuta is unacceptable and I am in close contact with the Spanish authorities. I reiterate that there are no movements towards mainland Europe or other member states,” European Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner wrote on X.
“The Schengen Borders Code,” Brunner added, “contains special provisions that apply to Ceuta and Melilla, and checks on people departing from Ceuta remain in force.”
Against the backdrop of an election campaign ahead of next year’s general election, the proposal to suspend Schengen has sparked intense political debate in Italy and drawn praise from several European far-right parties, including France’s National Rally, Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the UK’s Reform UK.