Italy could close the Schengen Area with Spain over the Ceuta crisis, and Albares summons the Italian ambassador.

Eduardo González The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, has defended the "closure of the Schengen Area with Spain" following the migration crisis in Ceuta, which he attributed to "the decision by the Madrid government to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to more than 500,000 irregular immigrants." In response to these words, the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has summoned the Italian ambassador for this Friday to protest this "message unbecoming of a partner and friend." "I am in favor of closing the Schengen Area with Spain and I have full confidence in the actions of the Minister (of the Interior, Matteo) Piantedosi," Tajani posted on social media. “Irregular and uncontrolled immigration represents a danger to national security,” he warned. “The images coming out of Ceuta demonstrate how the Madrid government’s decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to more than 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking,” he added, referring to the Extraordinary Regularization for Migrants adopted by the government last April, which does not include granting nationality to the beneficiaries. “This message is unbecoming of the Foreign Minister of a partner and friend from whom we expect European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery,” Albares posted on Thursday in response to Tajani. “Today’s events are related to a court ruling, nothing to do with what the tweet says. I have summoned the Italian Ambassador for tomorrow,” he added. For her part, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that “the images coming out of Ceuta are shocking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration represents a concrete threat to the security of European borders.” “I have met with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Italy will not stand idly by,” she announced. “We are convening the relevant agencies, and at the end of these meetings, we are prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend our borders and the security of our citizens, such as suspending Spain’s Schengen Agreement,” she asserted. “On illegal immigration, we will not back down an inch: defending our borders, arresting human traffickers, and ensuring effective repatriations will continue to be this government’s policy,” she added. Spanish government sources stated on Thursday that “this crisis in Ceuta has nothing to do with the regularization of migrants approved by the Spanish government, as is being falsely claimed by some.” “It is false that anyone who has crossed in recent days can benefit from this process, as it requires very specific conditions, such as proving residency in Spain before January 1, 2026, and having resided in Spain for five consecutive months at the time of application,” they warned. This crisis, they asserted, “stems from an interpretation of the Supreme Court decision, which prohibits the return of people who reach Spain by swimming, that has been exploited by mafias and criminal organizations to take advantage of the extreme vulnerability of migrants.” PP and Sumar The People's Party (PP), for its part, has demanded that the Government use “the exceptional instruments provided for in our legal system to respond to exceptional situations, starting with declaring Ceuta a situation of interest for National Security.” “Effective control of the border must be regained, the return of those who have entered illegally must be guaranteed, and security and coexistence must be preserved in these crucial hours,” the party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo continued in a statement. Likewise, the PP has called for a “massive” deployment of the Police, the Civil Guard, and the Army “until the situation returns to normal, to guarantee the safety of citizens and the economic activity on which the people of Ceuta depend,” and for the Spanish Government to “immediately request the deployment of Frontex and its rapid intervention units, in order to reinforce security, control, and the maintenance of order on Europe's southern border.” The People's Party has also called for "the urgent appearance of the Prime Minister (Pedro Sánchez) before the Congress of Deputies to report on the situation causing this alarming increase in illegal entries, the measures he intends to implement to guarantee the integrity of Spain's and the European Union's borders, and to explain the government's international cooperation policy on migration control," as well as "the convening of the Standing Committee so that an extraordinary plenary session can be held in Congress to address this appearance as soon as possible." For her part, Tesh Sidi, a MP for Más Madrid and the Sumar group, and of Sahrawi origin, has accused Morocco of "using" minors as a weapon against Spain and has warned that, until there are serious bilateral relations and "firm criticism" of Rabat is permitted, these events will continue to occur every summer. "That's what the Moroccan dictatorship is playing at," she wrote on her Instagram account. "You cannot negotiate with a regime that repeatedly resorts to exploiting human desperation," she warned.

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