Border controls: Italy and Spain extend Schengen restrictions

The extension of controls "at the air and sea borders with Spain" decided this morning by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, who communicated it with a note addressed to the European Commission and his counterpart Union ministers, is for 15 days.

The measure, the Interior Ministry informs, was deemed necessary after the checks conducted by the Immigration and Border Security Analysis Committee, which met in the morning. In fact, "high risk profiles for internal security remain, as well as a possible danger linked to possible terrorist infiltration".

Madrid responds to Rome: the possibility of carrying out checks in Spanish ports and airports on travelers coming from Italy, reports the Efe agency citing sources from the Iberian Interior Ministry, will be extended until 8 October. The decision, explains the Spanish agency, comes after the Italian government announced the extension of the suspension of the Schengen agreement with regard to Spain for another 15 days. Madrid introduced controls for the first time, in response to the Italian measure, on August 8, initially for a month. Subsequently, the measure was extended until September 23.

"It's absurd, it's useless and it's a shame because it undermines the spirit, the philosophy of what it means to be European partners." Thus the Spanish Foreign Minister Josè Manuel Albares, according to the Spanish press, commented on the Meloni government's decision to extend the Schengen controls by 15 days in relation to the Ceuta crisis, and criticized the fact that Italy is currently receiving double the number of irregular entries. In his opinion, the decision was taken in terms of "internal politics": both the prime minister and minister Tajani are not behaving like "European leaders up to the situation".