Spain imposes border checks on Italian travelers in tit-for-tat move over Ceuta migrants row

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MADRID (AP) — A diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy over the rush of tens of thousands of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta escalated on Saturday after the government in Madrid announced border controls on Italian travelers in response to Rome's decision to impose sanctions on visitors from Spain.

Italians arriving at Barcelona airport were subject to random police checks after the controls were put into effect overnight, according to Spain’s state news agency EFE.

The Spanish government said the controls would stay in place for at least a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rejected Spain’s warning on Friday that it would take “proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens” if Rome didn’t lift its own restrictions by an Aug. 9 deadline.

Italy began enforcing air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens on Aug. 1 following Meloni’s scathing criticism of the progressive migration policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The feud was triggered after the sudden arrival of 72,000 migrants from Morocco at Spain’s North African territory late last month. Although most of the migrants have since gone back, more than 80 migrants died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.

The migrant rush on Ceuta also reignited the immigration debate within the European Union, whose leaders criticized Sanchez for policies that they suggested were responsible for the massive influx.

Hawkish EU leaders like Meloni pointed to such policies, including a Spanish government decision to carry out an amnesty for immigrants without residency permits who could prove they had been living in the country for at least five months and arrived before Jan. 1 this year. Over 1 million people applied before the window closed at the end of last month.

The 27-member EU bloc has a visa-free travel area known as Schengen that allows citizens of most EU countries to travel easily across borders for work and pleasure.

According to the EU, member states are allowed to temporarily reintroduce controls at the EU’s so-called internal borders in case of a serious threat, such as one to internal security. But it also says border controls should be applied as a last resort in exceptional situations, and must be time-limited.

Meloni’s office on Friday said Italian authorities “have no intention” of lifting border checks on people arriving from Spain by sea or air until at least Aug. 15 — six days after the Spanish deadline.

“Italy does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad about national security and border control,” a statement said.

Should there be a repeat of migrant arrivals in Ceuta, Italy would review its decision to impose the checks “only when we are certain that there will be no security or terrorist risks for Italy, that there will be no new wave, and that there are no irregular migrants heading towards European territory,” the statement added.