Minister Piantedosi declared that a serious incident in Ceuta exposed Spain and the entire European Union to a serious threat related to immigration and security, during an interview with the Italian agency ANSA.
The minister considered that the temporary reinstatement of border controls was a necessary measure due to 'objective danger conditions,' which, according to him, 'remain visible to all.'
The Interior Minister expressed his desire for the factors that motivated Giorgia Meloni's executive (a center-right and right coalition) to implement such a measure to disappear 'as quickly as possible.'
Piantedosi reinforced the bond between the countries, stating that 'Spain is a sister nation, a friendly country' that shares similar challenges to those faced by Italy, promising full support and collaboration.
Italy had reinstated controls at ports and airports for travelers from Spain on July 31, following the massive and irregular entry of migrants into Ceuta. Subsequently, after the Meloni government disregarded Spain's requests to remove such restrictions, Pedro Sánchez's government (left) imposed reciprocal controls on passengers from Italy.
The previous week, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, warned that the situation in Ceuta remained 'very worrying' and that Rome was carefully analyzing the timing of reopening the Schengen area with Spain, as the Italian government conditioned the suspension of these restrictions on the evolution of the situation in the Spanish autonomous city.
The migration crisis in Ceuta began when approximately 72,000 people entered the Spanish autonomous city, located in North Africa, within a 24-hour period. According to data from Spanish authorities, about 70,000 of these individuals have already returned to Morocco.
At the beginning of August, it was estimated that between three thousand and five thousand migrants, including young people and minors, were still in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. This territory, with only 80,000 inhabitants, is located in the extreme north of Morocco, bathed by the Strait of Gibraltar, being one of the two land borders between Europe and Africa, alongside Melilla.