The Spanish government threatened on Friday to impose countermeasures that will affect travelers coming from Italy if this country does not lift by Sunday all temporary border controls imposed for air and sea connections with Spain after the wave of migrants who entered last week into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on the Moroccan coast of Africa.
The measures imposed by Italy are „unfair, contrary to the interests of the European Union, and discriminatory against the population of Spain,” argued the Spanish government in a statement, emphasizing that there have been no secondary movements of migrants from Ceuta to the interior of the EU, within the Schengen area of free movement, as reported by Reuters and EFE agencies.
Therefore, if the government in Rome does not lift these controls, Madrid will resort to "proportional" measures starting from Sunday to protect the interests and dignity of Spanish citizens, the Spanish government further stated.
Last Friday, Italy announced that it is suspending the Schengen agreement with Spain for air and sea connections due to the massive influx of illegal migrants into the Ceuta exclave, without specifying the duration of these controls.
Italy does not share a land border with Spain, but the temporary introduction of border controls for travelers arriving by air and sea from Spain now requires them to present an identity document.
There have been no major incidents reported due to these controls so far, except for some minor disruptions during departure due to document checks.
A source from Rome's Fiumicino airport stated that each airport has its own method of implementing controls. For flights landing at Fiumicino, document checks are carried out upon departure from the airport in Spain, while in other cases, such as in Venice, passengers disembark in the non-Schengen arrivals area.