Madrid earlier warned of ‘proportional measures’ if Rome did not end its checks amid fallout from the Ceuta migrant crisis.Spain has introduced temporary border controls on travellers from Italy after Rome refused to pull back a similar policy following the deadly rush of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week.The passport, nationality and visa checks will start at midnight on Saturday and last until September 7, Spain’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Friday, citing “persistent irregular migration pressure” on Italy.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ceuta’s leader says 100 died in border rush as up to 5,000 still in enclavelist 2 of 4How a social media campaign triggered huge migrant surge on Ceutalist 3 of 4Ceuta and Melilla: Why Europe’s African border remains a flashpointlist 4 of 4How the far right weaponised the Ceuta crisisend of list‌Italy had applied its own temporary measures on July 30, saying the move was motivated by the mass migration rush of about 72,000 people on Ceuta.Earlier on Friday, the Spanish government warned of “proportional measures” against Rome and declared a two-day deadline for Italy “to rectify, put an end to the checks and treat Spaniards like other European citizens”.Rome responded by saying it would not bow to “ultimatums or impositions” from ⁠Spain and doubled down on maintaining its border controls until at least August 15.The diplomatic tit-for-tat unfolds as Spain continues to reel from the influx of people who crossed into Ceuta from Morocco last week, on foot and by sea.Mass arrivals in the North African Spanish enclave angered other European Union leaders who have taken a hard anti-migration stance, including far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.When Italy said it would temporarily reintroduce border checks with Spain starting on August 1, Meloni called it an “extraordinary measure” to “safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation”.Yet, experts said there was little prospect of asylum seekers and migrants travelling from Ceuta to Italy, particularly as Italy and Spain do not share a land border. Rights groups instead pegged Meloni’s move as “political theatre”.Some 22 EU member states signed a joint letter accusing Spain of “pull factors” that destabilise the bloc’s borders.At least 100 migrants and asylum seekers have died on the way from Morocco to Ceuta, authorities said. The vast majority of those who came to Ceuta have since returned to Morocco.Also on Friday, Spain said its police successfully dismantled a people-smuggling operation believed to have brought 2,000 migrants into the country via Spain’s southeastern coast and the island of Ibiza.Migrants swim around a border barrier with Morocco to enter the Ceuta enclave on July 31, 2026 [AFP]Unaccompanied minorsAmid the political fallout, Spanish leaders are grappling with a humanitarian crisis still ongoing in Ceuta.Of the few thousand asylum seekers and migrants who remain in the enclave, at least 1,342 are children, Youth Minister Sira Rego said on Friday, hundreds of whom are unaccompanied.Rego acknowledged “painful images” of children sleeping on Ceuta’s streets and said two schools had been opened as authorities evaluated more locations as possible reception centres.Still, Ceuta authorities said at least 1,100 children needed assistance, with Ceuta’s theoretical capacity only totalling 90 places where people could be housed.“It might only be a matter of a few weeks before we start seeing [children] transferred to and welcomed on the mainland,” Rego told reporters.Local and international charities have cautioned that the children face abuse and exploitation.Migrants who crossed from Morocco into Spain line up for food distribution on a beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Monday, August 3, 2026 [Bernat Armangue/AP]Jose Miguel Morales, head of Federacion Sur Acoge, a migrant rights and assistance group in southern Spain, said some of the children were under 14 years old and had already been beaten and assaulted.But the transfer of children to the mainland has become a domestic flashpoint in Madrid, where Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government approved 25 million euros ($29m) to help support unaccompanied minors in the territory.Leaders from the far-right, anti-immigration Vox party were quick to say they opposed any aid for migrant and asylum seeker children.Vox leader Santiago Abascal wrote on X that “not one euro from Spaniards” should go “for illegals, for invaders”.