Brussels, Oct 16 (V7N) – Italy and Spain agreed to remove tit-for-tat border checks introduced following a spat over migration after talks between the two countries' leaders, diplomatic and government sources said Friday.
The detente ends a showdown that began in summer, when Italy's interior ministry introduced controls on travellers from Spain after tens of thousands of migrants rushed from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in North Africa.
As part of an agreement reached at an EU summit in Brussels, Rome's measures will continue for a week more so they lapse at the same time as Madrid's, according to Italian government sources. The deal was struck after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spain's Pedro Sanchez held talks on the sidelines of the leaders' meeting, where migration was on the agenda, a Spanish diplomat said.
Italy and Spain do not share a land border, but passengers arriving on flights had been required to go through passport checks, which is normally not the case because both countries are members of the Schengen free-travel zone.
The diplomatic row erupted after more than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta on July 30-31, swimming or crossing on foot from neighbouring Morocco in a chaotic influx that left scores dead and fuelled fresh tensions in the European Union over migration. Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among the EU leaders who called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen area, even though such a move is legally impossible. Spain's interior ministry put in place border checks for travellers arriving from Italy for one month from August 8, responding to Italy's earlier measures. The two countries have now agreed to remove the checks simultaneously, signalling a cooling of tensions over migration policy.
