Italy and Spain extend border checks again after Ceuta fallout

Migrants have returned to Trampolin beach in Ceuta, setting up makeshift shacks despite previous relocation efforts, exacerbating the city's ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Italy has extended border checks with Spain for an additional 15 days due to concerns over internal security and potential terrorist infiltration following the arrival of thousands of migrants in Ceuta.

Critics accuse Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of using the border controls as a political statement to appease the far-right National Future party, despite no evidence of migrants attempting to travel from Ceuta to Italy.

Travellers between Italy and Spain can expect spot border checks between the two EU countries to continue, after Italy extended the measure by a further 15 days in a dispute over the handling of migrants.

The measure was first introduced in August by the right-wing government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following the arrival of thousands of migrants in Ceuta, Spain's North African exclave.

The Italian Interior Ministry said the extension was necessary as high risks to internal security persisted, alongside "potential dangers linked to possible terrorist infiltration."

In response, the Spanish Interior Ministry said its border checks would now last until October 8, noting that the reasons for the checks "remain unchanged."

Rome argued when first introducing the controls that Italy's borders needed to be protected because of the large number of migrants arriving in Ceuta.

However, there were no indications that any of the migrants who arrived in Ceuta had attempted to travel to Italy. They were not even permitted to travel to mainland Spain.

Critics accused Meloni of using the border controls to make a political statement at home, as her government faces growing pressure from the new far-right National Future party.