Italy and Spain Extend Tit-for-Tat Border Controls After Ceuta Migrant Surge
Italy has extended its suspension of open-border arrangements with Spain for a further 15 days, with Spain doing likewise, after a mass rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta approximately a month ago.
Written by Olivia Bennett
(21h ago)
What happened?
Italy has extended its suspension of open-border arrangements with Spain for a further 15 days, following a mass rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta roughly a month ago.
Why it matters
The reciprocal tightening of controls between two major EU member states illustrates how localised migration surges can prompt bilateral restrictions on freedom of movement across the bloc.
Italy is extending its suspension of open-border arrangements with Spain for a further 15 days, deepening a bilateral standoff over migration that was triggered by a mass rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta roughly a month ago. Spain has extended corresponding controls in kind, producing what Sky News has described as tit-for-tat restrictions between the two countries.
The original restrictions were imposed by Italy in direct response to the Ceuta surge. Their renewal for another 15-day period suggests the episode has not been resolved to either government's satisfaction and that both sides remain unwilling to restore normal arrangements unilaterally.
Ceuta is a Spanish territory on the northern coast of Africa, and irregular crossings there have historically prompted political friction between Madrid and its European neighbours over the distribution of responsibility for arriving migrants.
Topics
Source: Sky News