Italy proposes closing the Schengen area with Spain due to the migration situation in Ceuta

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed his support on Thursday for closing the Schengen Area with Spain in the context of the migration crisis in Ceuta, where hundreds of people have crossed from Morocco via the El Tarajal breakwater.

“I am in favor of closing the Schengen Area with Spain and I have full confidence in the actions of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Irregular and uncontrolled immigration represents a danger to national security,” the minister stated in a brief message on social media.

The Italian Foreign Minister affirmed that “the images coming out of Ceuta demonstrate how the decision by the Madrid government to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to more than 500,000 irregular migrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking.”

Rome has raised the possibility of closing the Schengen Area with Spain after Ceuta experienced its biggest migration crisis since May 2021 on Thursday, with thousands of people, mostly young Moroccans but also families with women and children, entering the autonomous city for hours by skirting the Tarajal breakwater and scaling the border fence.

In response, the Spanish and Moroccan governments have agreed to strengthen coordination to return all those who entered irregularly “as soon as possible.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has stated that both countries are working together to restore normalcy, and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will travel to Ceuta on Friday to manage the crisis on the ground.