Ceuta: Spain under pressure as Italy suspends Schengen deal
Skip next section Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France and Italy respond to Ceuta incursion 08/01/2026 August 1, 2026 Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France
Skip next section Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France and Italy respond to Ceuta incursion 08/01/2026 August 1, 2026 Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France and Italy respond to Ceuta incursion Italy has officially suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain on Saturday for one month in response to the mass crossing in Ceuta. The Schengen deal allows for free movement between nearly all of the EU's 27 member states and several others that are not a part of the bloc, such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
It technically includes Spain’s exclaves such as Ceuta and Melilla, but passengers are still required to pass identity checks before traveling to Europe. Spain: 60,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Even so, many EU nations responded with alarm following the news of thousands of irregular migrants pouring into Ceuta from Morocco.
Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described the images coming from Ceuta as "shocking." She said the Schengen agreement suspension is an "extraordinary measure" intended to "safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation." It is unclear how the temporary suspension will be implemented on the ground. France, which shares a land border with Spain, boosted checks and deployed hundreds of additional law enforcement officers to the border by Saturday.
At the same time, France's President Emmanuel Macron pledged solidarity and offered assistance to Spain. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez seemed to hit back at critics online, saying that solidarity and empathy were "optional" but " [r]espect for European treaties… is not."
The BriefWire