It is 16:00 hours at Fiumicino airport, in Rome. These are the first days of the suspension of the Schengen agreement by Italy towards Spain. The atmosphere, both politically and in the media, is marked by what happened in Ceuta, where more than 70,000 migrants crossed the border to enter Spanish territory in Africa. These images have gone around the world, creating a precedent in the history of migrations in Spain and the rest of Europe.
“THREATS” TO NATIONAL SECURITY
The Italian government, last Saturday, August 1, suspended the Schengen border with Spain, the international agreement par excellence that provides for the free movement of people within most European countries. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, justified the decision based on the existence of “threats” to Italy’s “national security” and the protection of the European Union’s borders.
What has happened since then? After the suspension of the Schengen border, Italy has been carrying out border controls for a week at the country’s ports and airports for all routes coming from Spain. Since the measure was announced almost overnight, literally between Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1; the Italian authorities have had to organize on the fly to be able to carry out controls on travelers coming from Spain. Each Italian airport has organized itself differently.
At Fiumicino airport in Rome, the average is about 60 flights a day coming from Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Balearic Islands, and Canary Islands, among other destinations. At different Italian airports, for example, ground controls have been carried out by forming separate lines for flights coming from Spain, checking the documentation of all passengers. In Venice, for example, this exact scheme has been followed, diverting border control operations even to airport terminals intended for extra Schengen controls.
The controls are being random. In the arrivals area of Terminal 1, near where relatives wait for travelers while having coffee, there is a pair of Italian State Police officers conducting checks right at the last departure gate. According to information obtained by EL MUNDO, the Italian police authorities at Fiumicino airport are carrying out passenger checks even before the planes land, aiming to verify the documentation of non-EU passengers, for example, so they can continue to move freely within the Schengen area. In the first days, the Italian police checked the passenger lists of flights coming from Madrid and Barcelona, for example, to carry out these preventive controls.
“POLICE CONTROL WITH DOGS”
“It is a very sad climate that we are living within the European Union, which should be a symbol of human rights,” says Ricardo, a Spaniard raised in the Italian capital. He has just landed from a flight from Madrid, a city where he lives and works as an Economics professor. He traveled with his pet, Giovi, who barked and cried a little during the journey but remains calm by his side throughout the conversation. “My flight was on time and, upon leaving the plane, I only saw a police control with dogs,” confirms Ricardo, who will have some rest time with his family in the coming weeks.
“After learning about the situation in recent days, I had informed myself beforehand because I didn’t know what implications the suspension of Schengen for Spain by Italy would have. I thought it would be something similar to when someone travels to the United Kingdom after Brexit,” he explains. “A friend from the gym is flying to Palermo and was worried about the controls that might be in place, but since he is Italian, he joked that somehow he would be allowed in”; Ricardo also details that “another friend preferred to travel only to Naples because he wasn’t sure if his girlfriend from the Dominican Republic could enter Italy.”
As an Economics professor at the university, he considers that “the measure generates uncertainty, which in economics we view negatively. And this is one more, considering that the controls differ depending on the Italian airport where you land.” For Ricardo, as for other passengers interviewed at Fiumicino, the purpose of the measure is linked to the fact that “the Italian government wants to be the emblem of migration control” and “is challenging the Spanish government because of what happened in Ceuta.”
Before leaving Fiumicino airport accompanied by his faithful pet, the professor adds: “People are left to die at the border and, instead of talking about a humanitarian emergency, we talk about closing the Schengen area.”
THE END OF THE FREEDOM THAT THE SCHENGEN AREA PROVIDES?
The truth is that the suspension of Schengen for Spain by Italy, from a technical point of view, is not related to the crossing of migrants into Ceuta territory. Firstly, because Ceuta is outside the free movement agreements of the Schengen area. Secondly, because although the migrants illegally arrived in Spanish territory, they did not reach the Iberian Peninsula. Thirdly, because the suspension of the Schengen border aims ultimately to control the documentation of third-country nationals, not belonging to the international agreement, so they can continue to move freely within the European free movement zone.
Italy, for example, currently maintains the suspension of the Schengen area with Slovenia to control migratory flows on the eastern route. The same has happened on other occasions between France and Italy at the border near the Italian town of Ventimiglia, regarding Central Mediterranean migratory flows. But in the case between Italy and Spain, not only is there no land border between them, but the more than 70,000 migrants who arrived in Ceuta never even reached European territory, in the strictly geographical sense. So, physically, there was not only no risk that the migrants who crossed into Ceuta would reach the Iberian Peninsula; it was also impossible for them to travel undocumented to Italy by plane or boat.
“THE CONTROL WAS RIGHT AFTER LEAVING THE PLANE”
Cristina and Luis, aged 55 and 56, have just landed on a flight from Valencia and will attend a wedding in Italy these days: “They checked our documentation right after leaving the plane,” confirms Luis, who assures that “the suspension of Spain from the Schengen agreement by Italy is a very political measure by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, although it is not especially effective.” Leila, a 29-year-old Spanish and Peruvian, is traveling with her family from Vigo with two flights and a stopover in Barcelona before arriving in the Italian capital: “We were aware of the Schengen issue, but in the end, we had no controls.”
Flavia is Italian and 34 years old: “I traveled to Barcelona and the Costa Brava with some friends and, for safety, I had informed myself and even brought my passport just in case.” She adds: “We are at a historic moment where there is disorder and measures like this have to make sense because, in any case, migratory flows must be managed properly with respect for people.”
Leandro Tirreno, with a Filipino mother and Italian father, is a makeup artist who has lived in Barcelona for 12 years. In recent days, after landing at Fiumicino, he did not face any control after landing. It was already at departures where two Italian police officers asked for his documentation and inquired about the airport of origin, which was Barcelona: “I showed my Italian identity card, but I think they stopped me because of my Asian features, but I told them I was returning to Rome to visit my parents,” he explains. He adds: “I have never had problems traveling; one of the positive things about being European is being able to travel,” he says after being stopped for the first time in his own country. “It is an absurd situation and I feel very sorry. It is hard to imagine that people who arrived in Ceuta could travel undocumented here.”
THE ALBANIA MODEL AND SPANISH CONTROLS
After what happened in Ceuta, in recent days the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has wanted to present itself to European partners as a model of toughness regarding the management of European Union migratory flows. To this end, the Rome government has proposed to the 27 to follow the Albania model and establish migrant expulsion centers in third African countries, such as Rwanda, Ghana, and Uganda.
The goal is that, already in those centers, refugees who have the right to international protection can be separated so they can enter Europe, and the rest of the migrants can be expelled. The problem with the Albania model, so far, is that it retains legal contradictions at the European level and logistical difficulties for the efficient movement of migrants by Italian authorities between the Central Mediterranean and Albania. But the most controversial issue is the economic aspect because, with just over 600 migrants deported in almost two years, the entire Albania model costs Italy more than 1 billion euros in five years.
The European Union is watching closely. Meanwhile, Spain has implemented the same controls on Italian citizens.
“The letter against Spain, launched on August 1 by Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, has been signed by 22 countries, 20 of them led by the center-right and two (Denmark and Malta) by the center-left. Also, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has signed it, while Emmanuel Macron has not. There is concern that the EU could be divided along purely political lines: conservatives on one side and progressives on the other,” points out Corriere della Sera.
“MANAGING THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE”
Guido, Lucia, Leonardo, Marinella, and Emma are from the Italian city of Perugia, in the center of the country. They are all 18 years old and have just returned from their first trip to Barcelona to celebrate the end of their time together in high school: “Traveling to Barcelona allowed us to meet other people we would never have met in our daily lives and, moreover, to have the experience of managing ourselves independently and feeling independent,” explains Marinella.
The five, more or less in unison, reflect on the fact that “Ceuta is Spanish but is in Africa and the migrants have not reached the south of the Peninsula” [although there are reports from various media that this has already happened]. Among the whole group of friends, Leonardo reflects: “It is very fascinating to observe how Europe, as an entity itself, tries to manage the movement of people as if it were a single block.” For Emma, it was her first plane trip and, moreover, outside Italy. She admits to being the most cautious of all during the trip: “The feeling of takeoff was strange! My ears popped and I had a strange feeling in my stomach!” the young woman explained, recounting how her first takeoff was: “It was a very beautiful feeling!” The five are already thinking about their next destination, which could be Amsterdam. May the opening of their perspective contrast, in the future, with the closing of the adult world they have just entered.