Italy, Spain Extend Tit-for-Tat Border Curbs After Ceuta Illegal Immigrant Crisis

Immigrants gather on a hill as they attempt crossing from the border town of Fnideq in Morocco to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Aug. 15, 2026. AP PhotoA diplomatic tit-for-tat dispute has frozen open-border travel between Rome and Madrid amid the fallout from the Ceuta immigrant crisis.Italy said on Aug. 31 that it would suspend its open-border arrangements with Spain for another 15 days.In response, Spain said it would also keep checking passengers arriving from Italy by air and sea for 15 more days.Thousands of young men crossed from Morocco into the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta between July 30 and July 31 in an unprecedented surge at one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa.Rome’s government initially brought in the ​restrictions on Aug. 1, saying it wanted to make sure no illegal immigrants ⁠entering Ceuta could travel on to Italy.Those curbs had been due ​to expire on Aug. 31.Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi told La Sicilia on Aug. 31 that the extension “was necessary” because the reasons for its imposition remain.However, he added, “It is certainly appreciable the effort that the Spanish government is making, together with the European Union, to overcome the situation that has been created.” On July 30, Spain deployed military units to its North African exclave of Ceuta to reinforce security after thousands of illegal immigrants breached its border with Morocco.Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city located in North Africa, like Melilla, which together represent the European Union’s only land borders with Africa, and often face surges of illegal migrants seeking to reach Europe.Social media footage reviewed by The Epoch Times at the time showed thousands of young men at Tarajal beach running, walking, and cheering on the beach and roads.The Spanish government’s current official estimate is that about 72,000 people crossed into Ceuta from Morocco between July 30 and July 31.Authorities ​say between 5,000 and 8,000 people remain there. About 82 immigrants on the ​Spanish side of the border were killed in the rush, and 14 more deaths were confirmed by ‌Morocco.On Aug. 28, Spain asked for help from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) ​in processing immigrants.Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska ​sent a request to Beate Gminder, the ​European Commission’s director general for migration and home ⁠affairs, for help from Frontex, a European Union ​agency, to screen illegal immigrants in the autonomous city.In an Aug. 31 post, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that “Ceuta will emerge stronger.” “I take responsibility for the mood of the autonomous city. I am very much aware that all resources are insufficient until normality and tranquility are restored,” he said. He said that his government will approve an “extraordinary extension of the special plan to reactivate the Ceuta economy” worth 168 million euros ($195 million).“The invasion … shakes Europe and worsens an effect already denounced,” said Jorge Buxadé, member of the European Parliament for Spanish conservative party Vox. “All of Europe sees the [Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party] as an existential danger, and the risk of isolation is total,” he said in an Aug. 25 post on X. Spain also this year approved a mass amnesty to legalize at least 500,000 illegal immigrants.Sánchez said in an April 14 post on X that the move was an act of “normalization” and “justice.”“Today, once again, I feel proud to be Spanish,” Sánchez said.With Spanish residency permits, regularized immigrants would be entitled to travel within the Schengen area of the European Union for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing National Rally party in France’s National Assembly, said the “decision will not be without consequences for France.”She said in an April 14 post on X that it was “urgent to restrict freedom of movement within the Schengen Area to citizens of member states only.”Reuters contributed to this report.