Italy’s Meloni Proposes Suspending Spain’s Free Travel Agreement as More Than 50,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta in 24 Hours

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is calling for Spain to be kicked out of the Schengen Agreement, which allows people to move freely between 29 European countries, over the migration crisis at the autonomous Spanish enclave of Ceuta.Spain’s government says 60,000 migrants — mostly Algerian and Moroccan individuals — crossed into the autonomous city of Ceuta from Morocco over the last 24 hours. Videos of thousands of migrants climbing out of the sea and onto Ceuta’s territory went viral on Thursday as local leaders called the situation an emergency. Spain deployed its military in response to the situation. It was not entirely clear what led to the explosion of migrants swimming from Morocco to Ceuta, which sits on the African country’s northern border.On X, Ms. Meloni said she is “convening the relevant bodies” to discuss the situation and is “prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures.”“We will not yield an inch: defending the borders, stopping human traffickers, and ensuring effective repatriations will continue to be the line of this Government,” she added. The French interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said France will increase its border checks with Spain. Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a statement on X that the “images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable.”“We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said. “Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.”Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, denounced the influx of migrants, calling it an “attack on Spain’s territorial integrity.” He said that the situation “deserves our most resounding and energetic condemnation.”The number of migrants who crossed the border is equivalent to about 70 percent of the population of Ceuta. Spanish officials say roughly half of the migrants have already been returned to Morocco. Officials said at least 40 migrants have died. The migrants will have to be processed before they can make it to mainland Spain. If they are allowed to make it to the continent, they would be able to travel freely throughout much of Western Europe. The crisis has also prompted criticism of Spain’s immigration policies. On July 8, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that officials may not immediately deport migrants if they arrived by sea — though migrants who arrive by land are not afforded the same treatment. That ruling came after Spain carried out one of the largest amnesty programs in history, with more than 1 million illegal immigrants applying for legal status.Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, posted on X that he is in favor of “closing the Schengen Area to Spain,” saying that “irregular and uncontrolled immigration poses a danger to national security.” Mr. Tajani said that Spain’s amnesty is “profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking.”A conservative Spanish politician, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, wrote on X, “Sánchez allows Spain to be invaded through Ceuta.”While Spanish officials criticized the surge, they also pushed back on the notion that the amnesty program was responsible for the tens of thousands of people swimming to Ceuta. In a statement, the Spanish government insisted that the situation “has nothing to do with the regularization of migrants.”Mr. Sanchez said that human trafficking networks were behind the surge, saying that they “deceive so many young people, and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths — whether in the ocean or, as in this case, at Spain’s border in the autonomous city of Ceuta.” The prime minister suggested that the Supreme Court’s ruling is partially responsible for the crisis. He said a “misinterpretation” of the July 8 ruling “spread like wildfire.”Another Spanish city in North Africa, Melilla, has seen migrants attempting to cross the border, though the numbers were much lower than at Ceuta.

Italy’s Meloni Proposes Suspending Spain’s Free Travel Agreement as More Than 50,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta in 24 Hours

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