The Spanish government has reacted harshly to the comments of Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani regarding the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta, a Spanish exclave on the North African coast. Responding to a post on X by Tajani, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares responded on the same social media platform: “This message is unworthy of the Foreign Minister of a partner and friend country from which we expect European solidarity, not partisan demagoguery. Today’s events have to do with a ruling, nothing to do with what the tweet says. I have summoned the Italian ambassador tomorrow.”
What Tajani said
“I support the closure of the Schengen area with Spain and I have full confidence in Minister Piantedosi’s actions,” Tajani wrote. “Irregular and uncontrolled immigration represents a danger to national security. The images arriving from Ceuta demonstrate how the Madrid government’s decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to over 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking.”
Spanish government sources, broadcaster RTVE reports, claim that the crisis “has nothing to do” with the migrant regularization approved by the Sánchez government. “It is false that anyone who has crossed the border in recent days can benefit from this procedure, as it requires very specific conditions, such as proving residency in Spain before January 1, 2026, and having resided in Spain for five consecutive months at the time of application,” the same sources note, emphasizing that the current crisis in Ceuta is linked to an interpretation of a recent Supreme Court ruling: it prohibits the repatriation of those who swim across the border, a interpretation that has been “exploited by mafias and criminal organizations.”