Italy extends Schengen suspension with Spain after Ceuta crisis
Italy has decided to keep its suspension of the Schengen free-movement arrangement with Spain in place for at least another 15 days, according to the country’s Interior Ministry and reporting cited by DW. The move prolongs a measure first introduced on July 31 in response to the migrant crisis tied to the crossing into Ceuta.
The decision keeps Spanish nationals excluded from the arrangement while Rome says the conditions that led to the original measure have not eased. The ministry said the extension was taken because the factors behind the reintroduction of controls on August 1 were still present, although it did not spell out those factors in detail. Italy also said it was aware of steps Spain and the European Union were taking to bring the situation back to normal.
The policy escalation comes after a period of heightened tension between the two governments. Spain’s response has included border controls for passengers arriving from Italy, and on Monday Spanish authorities reportedly extended their own measures for another 15 days, turning the episode into a mutual restriction regime rather than a one-sided Italian action.
The dispute traces back to the migrant surge connected to Ceuta, where tens of thousands of people crossed or attempted to cross into Spanish territory from Morocco. DW reported that nearly all of the roughly 70,000 people who had broken through the barrier later returned to Morocco, but the political effects of the incident continued to ripple through Europe. Italian officials have framed the suspension as a security and migration-management measure, while Spain has pushed back against what it sees as the political use of the crisis.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that an “international far-right movement” with links to Russia and Israel had helped create a disinformation campaign on social media that fed the crisis. Spain and Morocco had already said misinformation around a recent Supreme Court ruling worsened the situation. Sanchez said there was no evidence Moroccan authorities had been responsible.
The episode also brought renewed attention to the humanitarian side of the crisis. Sanchez said around 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta, including at least 1,200 minors, and Spain asked the EU border agency Frontex for help in processing the remaining arrivals. With residents protesting and officials on both sides extending controls, the confrontation has shifted from a border incident into an EU-level migration and diplomacy test.
