Italy and Spain Prepare to End the Border Checks Imposed After the Ceuta Migration Crisis

Prime Ministers Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez discussed on Thursday, on the sidelines of a European summit, ending the border checks Italy imposed on travelers from Spain after last summer's Ceuta migration crisis. Interior ministers from both countries will hold talks in the coming days to try to synchronize when each side lifts its own measures.

Italy introduced the checks on August 1 at its air and sea borders, citing security concerns following the mass crossing of migrants into Ceuta in late July. Spain responded with selective checks on travelers arriving from Italy, and both governments have repeatedly extended the measures since then, typically in one month stretches.

Italy's decision drew criticism both in Spain and from opposition parties within Italy itself, who pointed out that entering Ceuta does not grant automatic access to the Schengen area and that Italy and Spain do not even share a land border, which for many called into question Rome's justification for keeping the checks in place.

Despite the talks aimed at ending the restrictions, Italy was planning to extend its checks on travelers from Spain by another seven days while the details of a joint wind down are finalized, an approach meant to let both governments coordinate dismantling the measure rather than ending the checks unilaterally and out of step with each other.

The move comes in a week also marked by the royal visit to Ceuta and Melilla and by Sanchez's announcement in Brussels on accelerating migrant returns, and is being read as another sign that the most acute phase of the border tension between Rome and Madrid, opened by last summer's crisis, is coming to an end.