The Ministry of the Interior has reported that from Saturday until 12:00 PM this Monday, a total of 1,033 passengers from third countries, arriving on flights from Italy, have been checked. 109 National Police officers participated in this operation.
The checks were carried out randomly at the airports of El Prat (18 flights), Alicante (14), Barajas (five), Malaga (five), Seville (eight), Valencia (three), and Bilbao (five). This measure was implemented after the Italian government rejected the Spanish executive's ultimatum following the massive influx of immigrants into Ceuta.
The decision by the government of Giorgia Meloni to conduct checks on passengers from flights originating in Spain came after the arrival of 72,000 irregular migrants in Ceuta. Despite Madrid's explanations about Ceuta's special regime and that none of the migrants had traveled to the mainland, Italy maintained the checks.
In response, the Spanish Government cited Frontex data, pointing out that Italy receives twice as many irregular migrants annually as Spain, and decided to implement checks on non-Spanish citizens arriving from Italy.
Sources from the Spanish executive believe that Italy's measure has "political motivations" rather than migratory ones, as Rome is aware that the mass entry into Ceuta had no impact on the mainland and that Ceuta has no direct flights with Italy.
