EU steps in as Spain and Italy trade border blows over migration

The European Union has dismissed the escalating border dispute between Spain and Italy as a temporary spat that will not damage the Schengen area, the bloc’s passport-free travel zone. Spain has now introduced checks on travellers arriving from Italy, a direct retaliation for Rome’s own border controls imposed earlier this week. Italy had tightened its borders following a sudden surge of migrants reaching Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. Madrid insists it swiftly returned most of those migrants to Morocco. Spanish officials accuse Italy of failing to control what they call “persistent irregular migration” into Europe. The tit-for-tat measures have raised concerns about the stability of the Schengen system, but Brussels maintains the restrictions are short-term and limited in scope. France24 correspondent Sarah Morris reports from Spain on the latest developments.