Spain to Impose Temporary Border Checks on Visitors From Italy

The checks, which come amid persistent irregular migration pressure facing Italy, will start at midnight on Saturday and last until 7 September, Spain's interior ministry said in a statement. Hours earlier, Spain threatened Italy with countermeasures if it did not swiftly lift its own border checks, drawing a rebuff from Rome. The rare spat between the EU and Nato allies came after tens of thousands of people crossed from Morocco to Spain's north African territory on 30-31 July in an unprecedented, deadly rush.

The scenes infuriated EU members that back a hard line on irregular immigration, including Italy, which imposed border checks on people arriving from Spain for one month. The Spanish government criticised the measure on Friday as unfair, contrary to the EU's interests and discriminatory for the Spanish population.