Italy suspends Schengen with Spain after 60,000 migrants breach Ceuta border, leaving 88 dead

The breach

On Thursday and Friday, 30-31 July 2026, approximately 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, a 19.7 km² autonomous city on the North African coast opposite Gibraltar. People crossed on foot, by swimming, and along breakwaters and beaches at the border. Spanish authorities deployed the military to the area.

By Friday evening the Spanish interior ministry reported that about 48,000 of those who crossed had already returned to Morocco. More than 1,500 people received medical assistance inside the exclave. At least 88 people died during the crossing attempt, most of them drowning.

Italy breaks ranks

On Friday, Italy suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain, closing maritime and air borders. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Italian interior ministry after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her government expressed political support for the step on Thursday. Meloni publicly criticised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his handling of the crisis.

The government is suspending the application of Schengen rules with Spain, arguing the need to protect borders and prevent repercussions from the mass influx of migrants.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland backed the Italian move, while Spain called the actions "demagogic" and appealed for European solidarity.

The political calculus

French daily Le Monde noted that migration is becoming the central issue in Italy's unfolding election campaign. Meloni's main rival is General Roberto Vannacci, leader of the Futuro Nazionale party, who advocates mass deportations. Le Monde reported that Meloni intends to use the upcoming EU interior ministers' meeting to win support for creating migrant reception centres outside EU borders, a programme she previously attempted with Albania that did not deliver the expected results.

In Poland, Law and Justice (PiS) MP and prime ministerial candidate Professor Przemysław Czarnek called on Prime Minister Donald Tusk to take immediate steps to secure Poland against the consequences of the crisis. Czarnek demanded action "adequate to the situation, to the threat that has been present in Europe not only since last week but for over a dozen years."

Children lost in the system

After the mass crossing, the exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are struggling with an influx of unaccompanied minors. Sources in Ceuta's autonomous government told the EFE news agency that around 900 children, all from Morocco, are now in care facilities there. Authorities suspect more unaccompanied children and teenagers are in the exclave but have not come forward for help; local police are actively searching for them.

In Melilla, 344 minors are in care facilities, double the number before last week's crisis. Melilla's local government head Juan José Imbroda said the central government should take responsibility for 260 of those children, exceeding the limit set by a 2025 declaration on extraordinary migration situations. Under that declaration, Melilla is required to accommodate a maximum of 84 unaccompanied minors, with a relocation mechanism triggered when the limit is tripled.

This is a real drama.

Imbroda added that Morocco is not complying with its bilateral repatriation agreement with Spain. In 2025 the Spanish government created a €100 million fund for autonomous communities to finance care for unaccompanied minor migrants, with an additional €35 million transferred this year, of which €5 million is earmarked for Ceuta and €4 million for Melilla.

Brussels responds

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent a letter to Prime Minister Sánchez dated 3 August, praising Spanish and Moroccan authorities for containing the crisis and preventing further movement of migrants into continental Spain and other EU states. She wrote that both countries "handled the situation efficiently and effectively, preventing the illegal movement of migrants into Europe."

Von der Leyen outlined five priorities: closer cooperation with local authorities, strengthening external border protection, developing early warning systems, more effective action against people-smuggling networks, and faster returns of those not entitled to stay in the EU. She noted that illegal EU border crossings have fallen 55% over the past two years and 37% since the start of this year. She called Morocco an "important strategic partner" and signalled possible increased EU financial support for Rabat, while warning that the EU will not accept the use of migration as a pressure tool on member states.

EU interior ministers will hold an emergency online meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation. Von der Leyen also proposed a strategic debate on migration policy at the October European Council meeting.

What the legalisation programme does not do

Social media posts claimed that Prime Minister Sánchez would quickly grant residency to the Moroccans who entered Ceuta, opening a route to other Schengen countries. The Spanish government's regularisation programme, launched in April 2026, targets foreigners already living in Spain without legal status, such as those whose visas have expired. It does not apply to new arrivals who crossed the border illegally last week. Most of the 60,000 who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco and never reached mainland Spain.