Spain conducts random checks on Italian travelers until Sept. 7
The step widens a migration dispute between two Schengen members after more than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco in late July.
Spain began carrying out random border checks on travelers from Italy at airports and ports from midnight Aug. 8 through Sept. 7. The checks cover identity, nationality, passports and, for third-country nationals, visas or residence permits. The move follows Italy's earlier controls on arrivals from Spain and its rejection of Madrid's call to lift them. The dispute was triggered by a surge of migrants into Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, from Morocco in late July. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said about 72,000 migrants entered Ceuta and about 70,000 of them have been returned. European Union authorities said the internal controls are temporary.