MADRID: Spain on Saturday (Aug 8) started border checks on travellers arriving from Italy, responding to similar measures Rome imposed following a massive migrant rush into the Spanish north African enclave of Ceuta.
“I don’t see a lot of the word ‘diplomacy’ used in these decisions, not by the Italian government, nor by the Spanish government,” said one 36-year-old Italian tourist, Maria Celeste Grillo, who had just flown into Madrid.
She said she had not seen any added checks as she stepped off the plane, but found their implementation “sad”.
Spain announced Friday it would proceed with the heightened controls, citing what it said was “persistent irregular migration pressure” facing Italy – deepening a tit-for-tat row between the EU partners and NATO allies.
Spain’s left-wing government has complained that Italy’s hard-right government on July 31 unfairly imposed one month of border checks on travellers from Spain – suspending the EU’s Schengen Area visa-free travel arrangements – because of the Ceuta influx.
