MADRID (AP) — A diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy over the rush of tens of thousands of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta escalated on Saturday after the government in Madrid announced border controls on Italian travelers in response to Rome’s decision to impose sanctions on visitors from Spain.Italians arriving at Barcelona airport were subject to random police checks after the controls were put into effect overnight, according to Spain’s state news agency EFE.The Spanish government said the controls would stay in place for at least a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rejected Spain’s warning on Friday that it would take “proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens” if Rome didn’t lift its own restrictions by an Aug. 9 deadline.Italy began enforcing air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens on Aug. 1 following Meloni’s scathing criticism of the progressive migration policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The feud was triggered after the sudden arrival of 72,000 migrants from Morocco at Spain’s North African territory late last month. Although most of the migrants have since gone back, more than 80 migrants died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.The migrant rush on Ceuta also reignited the immigration debate within the European Union, whose leaders criticized Sanchez for policies that they suggested were responsible for the massive influx.
