Spain checks 7,696 non-EU passengers from Italy as Ceuta migration dispute strains Schengen

Scale of airport inspections in Spain

Spanish police have checked 7,696 non-EU passengers arriving on direct flights and sea connections from Italy since establishing temporary border measures on 8 August. Ministry of the Interior figures recorded up to 13:00 on Saturday, 22 August, show that 1,144 officers have participated in screening 696 flights across the country. The random checks focus specifically on third-country nationals landing in Spain. Since the previous reporting update on Wednesday, officers in Madrid Barajas screened 185 passengers, while Barcelona El Prat recorded 72 passenger checks across four flights. Additional inspections took place across regional airports, with 22 passengers checked in Tenerife South, 10 in Seville, six in Valencia, five in Malaga, four each in Mallorca and Ibiza, two in Gran Canaria, and one in Lanzarote. Menorca recorded zero third-country travelers across six inspected flights.

Diplomatic dispute following the Ceuta arrivals

The Spanish government established the controls two days after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reinstated border checks on travelers departing Spain. Rome introduced the restrictions following irregular arrivals in the North African enclave of Ceuta in late July, citing concerns that unauthorized entries into Spain could lead to secondary movements across other European Union countries. Spain scheduled its reciprocal measures to remain in place until 7 September. Italy had set a review date for 15 August, but the Meloni administration chose to keep the measures active. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated on Friday that the objective conditions of danger motivating the controls remain present, though he expressed a desire to remove them as soon as possible. Transport authorities noted that the random screening of third-country citizens has avoided flight delays or significant operational disruptions between the two countries.

Schengen border exceptions across member states

The bilateral dispute between Spain and Italy reflects wider strain on the Schengen area, which has guaranteed passport-free travel for 450 million citizens and commercial freight across 29 nations (including 25 European Union members) for four decades. European Union regulations require that internal border checks remain exceptional and temporary, justified solely by serious public safety or security threats. Davide Colombi, a migration researcher at the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, addressed the persistence of internal border checks across the bloc.

They are supposed to be temporary controls, but we have seen how member states have taken advantage of the Commission's inaction. And this has led to what has happened now between Italy and Spain, but more broadly in many, if not most, European member states.

In early June, the European Commission called on nine countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and Germany) to begin phasing out controls active for at least two years. Germany has enforced border checks against neighbors for 11 years and recently received European Union authorization to extend checks across all land borders through March 2027, following electoral advances by the Alternative for Germany party. France has maintained internal border checks since the 2015 Paris attacks, citing counter-terrorism and secondary migration control. The Commission has maintained that internal checks have less justification following the entry into force of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, even as national governments continue to implement unilateral border restrictions.