Italy-Spain Border Feud Exposes Europe’s Immigration Crisis

Tensions are deepening between Italy’s right-leaning government and Spain’s left-wing leadership as a dispute over immigration policy and border security spills into European travel.

More than a week has passed since Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative administration tightened border checks at airports and seaports for non-EU nationals arriving from Spain. Italy and Spain do not have a shared land frontier, making the move a pointed escalation in the migration debate.

Spain, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, responded two days later with matching controls on non-EU travelers coming from Italy. The measures have also meant that European Union citizens must present identification before continuing their journeys, creating delays during one of the continent’s busiest travel periods, when more than 2 million people move between Italy and Spain.

The dispute centers on border enforcement, particularly along the roughly five-mile boundary between Morocco and Ceuta, Spain’s autonomous exclave on the North African coast. According to The Associated Press, about 72,000 people reportedly tried to cross into Ceuta illegally during a late-July surge, before Spanish and Moroccan authorities strengthened the border in an effort to curb what the European Union describes as “irregular migration.”

Emma Schubart of the Henry Jackson Society told News Outlet that the dueling border measures underscore the political gulf between Rome and Madrid, describing it as the “Meloni–Sánchez divide” between an enforcement-led approach and a regularization scheme that attracted 1.2 million applications.

On July 31, Meloni’s government announced what she described as an “extraordinary measure,” temporarily halting the Schengen free-movement framework for sea and air routes connected to Spain and restoring border controls. Rome also said it was prepared to back any European effort aimed at helping Spanish authorities regain full control of the EU’s external borders. In practice, the policy has involved random checks on travelers who are not EU citizens.

Even some countries of Europe’s left are taking notice. Meloni teamed up with Denmark’s left-leaning Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to lead a group of 22 European Union leaders, including Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, in a letter calling for an “extraordinary” meeting of EU interior ministers to define a “coordinated European response.” The letter placed blame on Spain, noting that “the recent ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court has been used to trigger this attack and abuse (of) our migration and asylum system.” They added that the EU “cannot allow mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible.”

Spain’s Supreme Court issued a July 8 ruling regarding the immediate return of migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to enter Ceuta or Melilla.

Spain’s Sánchez called the letter “politically motivated,” saying the situation in Ceuta was “under control” and that his government had acted in “full compliance with EU law.” On his account, Sánchez posted, “Solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European treaties and data is not… It is the time to continue building a strong and united EU,” while noting EU Frontex data that there were 470,600 “irregular entries” via Italy since 2021, compared to Spain’s 234,760.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said, “Entering Spain irregularly through Ceuta or Melilla does not grant the right to remain in the country, to travel to mainland Spain, or to move freely within Europe.”

Meloni responded on X that Ceuta “once again demonstrated how urgent it is for Europe to respond to illegal immigration.… Defending the external borders of the (European) Union is not the interest of a single Nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

As soon as the Italian border controls went into effect, Spain responded, with Sánchez’s administration calling the controls “unjust” and “discriminatory towards the Spanish population.” The Spanish warned of “proportionate measures” to defend their interests, reciprocating with their own border controls on Italian travel on Aug. 8.

The Palazzo Chigi, the office of the Italian prime minister, said, “Italy does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad regarding national security and border control. Under no circumstances do we intend to review our decision… at least until 15 August… Another wave of migration is expected in Ceuta on that date, as the Spanish authorities themselves have announced.”

Morocco stepped in this past Saturday, Aug. 15, ahead of that attempted rush on the border, with officials saying more than 111 were arrested trying to reach Ceuta via mountain roads in an attempt to avoid checkpoints. Morocco’s Le360 news agency said that the number was closer to 300.

After the arrests, Italian foreign ministry officials told the AGI news agency they were “closely monitoring what is happening in Morocco and reaffirm the necessity of the measures adopted,” with a spokesman telling ANSA, “The checks at the border with Spain remain necessary in light of the latest developments in Morocco.”

Lorenzo Vidino, director of the program on extremism at George Washington University, told News Outlet that this “tit for tat” between the two countries could continue “for the foreseeable future.” Vidino said EU immigration policies are “complicated” because “there is one policy, but enforcement is by the country,” so politics plays a role. “Country A thinks Country B is not enforcing things correctly, so Country A closes the border to create de facto border controls.” He said a contributing factor to Italy’s decision may be the large Moroccan population in Italy, especially in northern Italy, which could be a draw for illegal immigrants from Morocco.

Vidino added that these types of internal EU border controls are nothing new. “France also reintroduces these ‘routine checks’ from time to time.” Austria continues sporadic checks on land crossings from Slovenia and Hungary and traffic at crossings into Germany can also be miles long due to continued controls there.

And it’s not only outside governments upset with Madrid’s response. Ceuta’s center-right mayor-president, Juan Jesús Vivas, held a press conference Friday, two weeks after the initial incursion, in the city’s Palacio de la Asamblea. He called the situation “unsustainable,” saying “Ceuta cannot endure much longer like this.” Despite Spanish authorities saying only 5,000 migrants remained in the city, Vivas says that number is closer to 9,000, adding, “Each passing day worsens the situation.”

Vivas said he felt “misunderstood and powerless in the face of the lack of legal tools” from Madrid, adding the government is moving too slowly. “I cannot understand that if a part of our territory is invaded… there is no legal mechanism that allows for an expeditious and immediate action for the return of these people who entered this territory illegally and irregularly.”

Maldita.es, an independent Spanish fact-checking platform, reports health officials have confirmed cases of scabies, impetigo and an outbreak of gastroenteritis among the migrants. Other news outlets report at least two cases of tuberculosis, but health officials say those affected were treated in Morocco before they crossed the border, and are not contagious. The National Institute of Health Management, the Spanish body responsible for managing healthcare in Ceuta, told reporters that, as of Aug. 11, there were “no confirmed cases of tuberculosis” originating in Ceuta.

Schubart said the EU should look to the U.S. “The U.S. experience is clear, over 8.7 million Southwest border encounters under weakened enforcement produced record surges and secondary pressures. Without consistent external controls, Schengen’s internal free movement erodes.”