Italy and Spain clash over border checks after Ceuta migration crisis

Italy has condemned Spain's decision to impose checks on travellers arriving from Italy as a diplomatic row over the Ceuta migration crisis escalates.

Spain began spot checks on visitors from Italy on Saturday after Rome introduced controls on travellers from Spain on 1 August following the arrival of about 72,000 people in Ceuta, The Guardian reported.

Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani defended Rome's measures in an interview with La Stampa, saying the country had a responsibility to protect its borders.

“Some order needs to be brought in: we’re not against Spain, but we have a duty to protect our borders. What is incomprehensible and completely unacceptable is Spain’s reaction,” Tajani said.

Madrid has argued that Italy's restrictions are unnecessary because Ceuta is outside the Schengen free-movement zone and most of those who entered the Spanish territory have been returned to Morocco.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares described scenes caused by the Italian checks at airports as “intolerable”.

“This measure is, first and foremost, an attack on the dignity of the Spanish people, but, secondly, it is a torpedo fired at the hull of European unity,” Albares said.

Tajani said Italy hoped to remove the restrictions “as soon as the risk is no longer present”, but tensions remain high between Rome and Madrid over their differing approaches to migration.