La migration crisis di Ceuta must be addressed as a European issue, it requires greater solidarity between member states and "there have been some governments that they were not up to par“, including theItaly. The said it Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, in an interview with Tve on the eve of the emergency meeting of EU interior ministers. "There have been governments that have not been up to the task," the minister declared, and even some politicians and parties in Spain, who have taken what he called "irresponsible" positions. "The Italian government was one of them."
Responding to Rome's criticisms of the management of the migration crisis in Ceuta, Albares stressed that Italy at other times has been “absolutely inundated with irregular immigrants”, with “repetitive crises” on the island of Lampedusa which "is incapable of resolving." While Spain "has always shown solidarity, politically and with facts," he maintained. "We demand this from our European partners," he added.
Reactions from Italy were immediate. On the front majority of government, FdI brands Albares' words as “surreal and hypocritical criticisms” while the Alloy insists on defining as “crazy” the “attacks” coming from the Spanish Foreign Minister adding that “Spain needs (Santiago, ed) Abascal”, leader of the ultra-right of VoxThe opposition, on the other hand, defines the executive led by Meloni as "cynical and vulgar" and they ask, united, that the Prime Minister report to the Chamber.
Ministry of the Interior, sources: landings plummet under Meloni's government
Meanwhile, while the controversy rages, sources at the Ministry of the Interior have reported that "in Italy from January of this year to today a collapse in landings of irregular migrants which was achieved precisely thanks to the policies of the Meloni government". And again: "It is a 55% decrease Compared to last year and approximately 82% compared to 2023, the first year of our Executive's mandate, which had to deal with a situation inherited from previous governments that was completely out of control – the same sources emphasize. As for the alleged 'invasion' of Lampedusa, there are currently 98 migrants on the island and there hasn't been an emergency situation there for some time.
Schengen suspended: here's where
In all of this, the European Commission announced that he had received notification from Italy of the suspension of the Schengen Agreement due to the migration crisis affecting Ceuta. But Rome is not the only government to have implemented restrictions on free movement in recent months due to "external threats." The updated list, in chronological order, is published on the European Commission's official website dedicated to the "Temporary Reintroduction of Border Controls." The notifications reflect migratory pressures, security threats, and the risk of secondary movements.
Italy is among the countries currently having two distinct restrictions. The last one, from August 1st to September 1st, 2026, will be at internal air and sea borders with Spain, motivated by the migration crisis in Ceuta. The other, which was already in effect from June 19th and will last until December 18th, 2026, along the land border with Slovenia, linked to the risk of terrorist infiltration from the Balkan route.
In addition to Italy, controls are currently in force in Austria, Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden e NorwayAustria is maintaining border controls until September 15 toward Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia, citing migratory pressure from the Balkan route and international instability.
