CEUTA: Italy said on Friday it had decided to suspend the border-free Schengen zone arrangement with Madrid for one month as thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s Ceuta enclave in north Africa.

Earlier, Italy had called for Spain to be suspended from the open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy’s ambassador and accuse Rome of using the crisis for political gain.

Finland backed Italy’s call to shut Spain out of the zone over the crisis.

In Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X that he had “given instructions to immediately step up controls at the Spanish border” on Thursday night.

About 40,000 Moroccans have crossed into Spain’s Ceuta enclave, sparking an outcry across Europe

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in Ceuta on Friday to manage one of the largest migrant crises on the country’s border.

In recent days, a total of around 40,000 migrants have crossed into the territory, a police source said, many swimming around the small border barrier that meets with the Mediterranean sea.

The sudden massive influx has sparked an international crisis for Spain’s government, drawing criticism from Italy and Finland and prompting France to tighten checks on its border with Spain.

Madrid has sent troops and more police, including divers, drones and boats, to boost security in Ceuta. Sanchez and his interior minister arrived on Friday to visit the enclave’s Tarajal border.

Eyewitnesses recall seeing hundreds of people entering Ceuta by swimming around a border barrier with Morocco to enter the Spanish exclave, discarding flotation rings and clothes used in the risky passage.

On Friday, hundreds of migrants were hanging around near the border and in the town while others were turning back to Morocco, saying “there are too many people here”.

So far, 18 people have died attempting to reach the Spanish enclave, the police source said.

“There was a steady stream of people all night long,” the source said, adding that migrants “cont­inued to arrive overnight and are still arriving”.

In 2021, thousands crossed to take advantage of Rabat loosening border controls during a diplomatic dispute with Spain.

‘Bye bye Morocco’

Ceuta, a territory of 18.5 square kilometres, and similar enclave Melilla have Europe’s only two land borders with Africa.

Ebullient migrants were seen walking through the streets of Ceuta, thanking the Spanish police and calling out: “Bye bye Morocco, hello Spain.”

Police and Civil Guards in Ceuta appeared to do little to intervene, although some policemen attempted to direct the arrivals to the local migrant reception centre.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2026