Sánchez takes the clash with Meloni to the BOE: the Government justifies controls due to "migratory pressure" and Italy considers them "totally unacceptable"

The diplomatic crisis between Spain and Italy has escalated into a direct clash with the reciprocal imposition of border controls. Sources from several ministries of the Spanish Executive confirm that this is not the scenario they would have wished for, but, given the lack of progress for Giorgia Meloni's government to back down, "a response had to be given."

Migratory episodes —premeditated or not— are associated with political interest in insecurity, crime and, ultimately, the chaos they can introduce in a Europe where the weight of reactionary governments is increasingly greater. A scenario that, moreover, can end up offering incentives for other governments to respond with similar measures to any migratory episode affecting their borders.

On July 31, the Chigi Palace temporarily suspended the Schengen Agreement for flights and boats coming from Spain, citing "national security" reasons.

The first warning to that move was launched by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares: "We invite the Italian Government to rectify by next Sunday," the minister declared.

Rome replied that it would not accept "ultimatums" and that controls would be maintained at least until August 15, a date on which, according to the Italian Government, Madrid "foresees a new migratory wave" in Ceuta.

With dialogue between both governments at a standstill, the Official State Gazette (BOE) now formalizes the order that extends the Spanish response to Italian citizens.

Under the signature of the Ministry of Interior, it has been agreed to temporarily re-establish controls at the internal borders of ports and airports for travelers coming from Italy due to "the migratory pressure on the central Mediterranean route."

The response on the other side of the Mediterranean was not long in coming. Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, considers Spain's decision to also suspend the Schengen free movement regime "incomprehensible and totally unacceptable."

The first criticisms and hoaxes due to the diplomatic clash

The opposition in Italy was quick to accuse Prime Minister Meloni of provoking an "unfounded" diplomatic crisis with Spain. From this side of the border, the Popular Party has also criticized the government's actions. National spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, stated on social media that "we are governed by people with the same reactions as a three-year-old child."

The first hoax —they never fail in these types of situations— has come from Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The president of Madrid states on X: "We let more than 70,000 people enter illegally just through Ceuta and we prohibit the entry of Italians, a sister country that invests and contributes to Spain."

A statement that starts from a false premise: Spain has not prohibited the entry of Italian citizens. What has been re-established are temporary controls at internal borders for travelers coming from Italy.

First hours of border control

These border controls, which for now aggravate the diplomatic crisis and strain the common European project, began to be applied last Saturday at airports and ports to passenger flights whose last departure airport before their arrival in Spanish territory is located in Italy. They also affect ships, ferries, and other maritime passenger transport services with an Italian port of origin.

The Government has explained that these border controls will be re-established for a period of thirty calendar days and will be in force until September 7.

During the first day of the controls' application, the Executive reported that it carried out border controls on 199 third-country passengers from Italy on 12 flights.

The problem now transcends the exchange of reproaches between Madrid and Rome. The dispute puts a deeper question on the table: to what extent can migration become an argument to strain one of its fundamental principles, free movement, within the European Union itself.

Spain and Italy share a political border within Schengen, but they also share an especially exposed position to the migratory routes of the Mediterranean. That two governments of the same European Union respond to a migratory episode by raising controls between them shows to what extent immigration management is ceasing to be solely a matter of internal politics to also become a factor of conflict between community partners.

For now, the BOE sets a thirty-day response. Diplomacy keeps, at least formally, the door open. The risk is that a crisis that began around migration ends up fueling precisely what both governments intended to avoid: a greater fracture within the European space.