Italy suspends EU Schengen free-travel pact with Spain over Ceuta crisis

Italy has suspended the EU's Schengen border-free arrangements with Spain due to a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

Italy said on Friday it ​was suspending the EU's border-free Schengen arrangements ​with Spain in response to a mass ‌influx ​of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.

Italy does not share a land border with Spain but the measure - which ‌looks certain to anger Madrid - will impact people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries, meaning they will need to show a passport to gain access. Italy's interior ministry said in a ‌statement it had also agreed with Paris to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian land border to ‌try to prevent any undocumented migrants from crossing.

Critics of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government dismissed the move as a symbolic gesture aimed at a domestic political audience, with no evidence that the migrants in Ceuta had any intention of heading ⁠to ​Italy. The decision to halt ⁠the Schengen pact came after Spain said it had reversed the rush of migrants into its enclave in North Africa, ⁠with most of the more than 50,000 people who had crossed the border heading back voluntarily.

Meloni's coalition, which ​came to power in 2022 promising to reduce illegal immigration, has faced strong pressure from ⁠a new far-right party led by former army general Roberto Vannacci, whose anti-migrant rhetoric has resonated with some voters. With migration once ⁠again ​dominating headlines, the government has sought to demonstrate a tough stance on border security. Centre-left opponents accused it bowing to a populist agenda.

"The problem is that this is a purely demagogic ⁠proposal, as usual designed for domestic consumption and to compete with Vannacci, without solving anything at all," said ⁠Piero De Luca, a ⁠senior lawmaker with the centre-left Democratic Party. The Schengen Area allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries, although member states can temporarily reintroduce border controls on ‌security or ‌public-order grounds.