Italy extends controls on travel from Spain for fifteen more days

The Government of Italy has decided to extend the suspension of the Schengen agreement with Spain and the controls at ports and airports for travelers from the Iberian country by fifteen more days, the Italian Ministry of the Interior reported this Monday.

"The decision has been made, in line with the analysis carried out by the Committee for the Analysis of Immigration and Border Security, because the evaluation elements that motivated its reintroduction on August 1st persist," the Italian Ministry of the Interior indicates in a statement.

The government presided over by Giorgia Meloni has submitted the memorandum informing of this extension to the European Union and has also communicated its decision to the Spanish Executive.

Phone conversation with Marlaska

"The evaluations justifying the extension were communicated by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, to his Spanish counterpart, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during a constructive telephone conversation," explains the official note.

Exactly one month ago, on July 31st, the Italian government announced its decision to suspend the European free movement agreement with Spain for a matter of "national security" in the face of the Ceuta migratory crisis.

The suspension has entailed the reintroduction of border controls at ports and airports for travelers from Spain.

For its part, the government of Pedro Sánchez demanded, unsuccessfully, that Rome lift these restrictions and responded by suspending Schengen with Italy until September 7th, also applying controls to travelers from that country.

Italian Minister: The extension of controls is necessary

The fifteen-day extension of controls in Italy for travelers from Spain is "necessary" despite the "effort" made in Ceuta by the Madrid authorities, according to the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, this Monday.

"If we have adopted it, it is obviously because it is necessary. It is a decision motivated by a series of studies carried out by specialists from the Committee for the Analysis of Border Security," the minister explained to the media in Naples.

In this regard, Piantedosi has acknowledged the "efforts" of the Spanish government to contain the crisis in Ceuta.

"We have limited the extension to 15 days because, on the one hand, the analysis carried out by specialists indicates that the reasons for which this measure was initiated persist; but on the other hand, the effort that the Spanish Government, together with the European Union, is making to overcome the situation that has been created is undoubtedly to be valued," he maintained.