Italy and Spain lift border controls after months of tension over Ceuta

More than 70,000 people irregularly crossed from Morocco into Ceuta in late July, triggering border security concerns in the EU bloc.

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Italy and Spain have agreed to lift border controls on each ⁠other’s citizens, ending a ⁠three-month standoff triggered after a mass surge of migrants and asylum seekers entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska ⁠spoke on the phone and agreed not to extend ⁠their suspension of the ⁠European Union’s open-border Schengen arrangements, an Italian statement said on Thursday.

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“The decision, reached after a careful assessment of ‌the situation, will be accompanied by enhanced information-sharing measures to ensure the full security ‌of ‌the common Schengen area,” the ministry added.

The decision followed a meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of a European Council meeting.

Italy’s right-wing government first suspended its open-border arrangements ‌with Spain on July 31, saying it wanted to make sure no migrants entering the North African enclave of Ceuta could travel to Italian territory.

Madrid responded by taking similar action against Rome, describing the ⁠Italian measures as “unjust, contrary ⁠to European Union interests, and discriminatory to the population of Spain”.

Migrants arrived on Tarajal Beach after crossing the border from Morocco into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, 2026 [File: Adri Salido/Getty Images]

The tit-for-tat border closures happened after upwards of 70,000 people swam around barricades and entered Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco on July 30 and 31, fuelling tension in the Spanish territory.

Most returned to Morocco within hours, but thousands, including unaccompanied minors, have remained for weeks in often dire conditions .

“We thought our government was going to do something in the short or medium term, but we’ve been here for two months, and these people haven’t been sent back,” Ceuta resident Ruben Gonzalez said.

The Spanish government’s handling of the mass crossing of migrants into Ceuta has complicated Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s bid for re-election in November.

Sanchez was already facing criticism for his government’s decision to open a path to legal status for hundreds of thousands of undocumented foreign residents.

After the Ceuta incident, Far-right Vox and centre-right PP parties accused him of being soft on immigration and put the issue at the centre of their campaigns in the run-up to next month’s elections.

7 月下旬，超过 7 万人从摩洛哥非法越境进入休达，引发了欧盟内部的边境安全担忧。

移民报告在休达遭受虐待：西班牙当局否认虐待指控

意大利和西班牙已同意取消对对方公民的边境管制，结束了长达三个月的对峙。这场对峙是由大量移民和寻求庇护者涌入西班牙飞地休达引发的。

意大利周四发表声明称，意大利内政部长马泰奥·皮安特多西和西班牙内政部长费尔南多·格兰德-马拉斯卡通了电话，并同意不延长暂停欧盟申根开放边境安排的期限。

列表 1/3：休达警方清理海滩营地后，移民儿童举行抗议

列表 2/3：桑切斯应对政治动荡之际，Vox 崛起：西班牙会转向右翼吗？

列表 3（共 3 条）：欧洲陷入困境，却把责任归咎于穆斯林。

该部补充说：“经过对形势的仔细评估后做出的决定，将辅以加强信息共享措施，以确保申根共同区的全面安全。”

此前，意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼和西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯在欧洲理事会会议期间举行了会晤，随后做出了这一决定。

意大利右翼政府于 7 月 31 日首次暂停了与西班牙的开放边境安排，称其希望确保进入北非飞地休达的移民无法前往意大利领土。

马德里方面采取了类似的行动回应罗马，称意大利的措施“不公正，违背欧盟利益，歧视西班牙人民”。

2026年7月30日和31日，移民从摩洛哥越境进入休达后抵达塔拉哈尔海滩。[图片：Adri Salido/Getty Images]

7 月 30 日和 31 日，超过 7 万人绕过路障从邻国摩洛哥进入休达，加剧了西班牙领土上的紧张局势，随后双方采取了针锋相对的边境关闭措施。

大多数人在几个小时内返回了摩洛哥，但数千人，包括无人陪伴的未成年人，已经在往往极其恶劣的条件下滞留了数周。

“我们以为政府会在短期或中期内采取一些措施，但我们在这里已经待了两个月了，这些人还没有被遣返，”休达居民鲁本·冈萨雷斯说。

西班牙政府对大量移民涌入休达的处理方式，使社会党首相佩德罗·桑切斯在11月的连任竞选变得更加复杂。

桑切斯此前已因其政府决定为数十万无证外国居民开辟获得合法身份的途径而受到批评。

休达事件发生后，极右翼的Vox党和中间偏右的PP党指责他在移民问题上态度软弱，并将移民问题作为下个月选举前竞选活动的核心议题。