20.08.2026, Rome.
Spain responded to Italy in kind, but chose a legally sound form, selective police checks instead of suspending Schengen arrangement with Italy, and thereby deprived Rome of grounds for a complaint to the European Commission, Rossa Primavera News Agency’s Europe Desk wrote on August 16.
At the end of July, Italy explicitly announced that it was suspending free movement and restoring border controls with Spain. Madrid, in response, did not suspend anything. But it just began selectively checking the documents of passengers arriving from Italy. On the surface, the two measures look identical, but there is one legal nuance. The Schengen borders code prohibits border controls within the zone specifically, while allowing police checks, as long as they are not systematic and do not effectively replace border controls. And as long as Madrid conducts selective checks, proving a violation is nearly impossible.
This is the position Rome has found itself in. Italy calls Spain’s move unacceptable, but not illegal. The complaint is political, because there is simply no legal basis for it. Taking the matter to the European Commission would be awkward: Rome itself closed the border first, and did so in a much more legally vulnerable form. In responding, Madrid carefully avoided the trap that the Italian government had fallen into on its own..
However, this dispute is not really about checks at airports at all. Both Rome and Madrid are addressing Brussels rather than each other ahead of a new round of negotiations over the migration pact. Its main issue remains unresolved: a country that does not want to accept migrants can buy its way out by paying money. Italy insists that the flow should be stopped outside the EU, while Spain argues that the burden should be fairly shared within the union. The positions are different, but they are addressed to the same arbiter.
The problem is that a third party, rather than the arbiter, benefits from this quarrel. For years, Italy and Spain acted as a united southern front, jointly demanding solidarity from Berlin, Vienna, and The Hague. Now two countries with almost identical interests are spending their energy against each other, while pressure on the northern capitals has been lifted.
It is too early to declare Schengen agreement dead, however. Germany, France, and Austria have maintained controls at their internal borders for years, and the system has survived. What is new is this: previously, borders were closed against a neighboring country and justified by citing a threat; now checks are being introduced at a distance and in response to the actions of another EU member state. Border controls are turning from a security measure into a means of putting pressure on a partner, that is the real precedent, and anyone who wants a reason to use it will now be able to find one.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is unlikely to respond symmetrically. It is mid-August, and air traffic between the two countries is one of Europe’s busiest corridors, meaning that both countries’ carriers and tourists would have to pay the price for such a gesture. It would be more sensible to save the dispute as an argument for the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
