Finland and Italy call for suspending Schengen with Spain after Ceuta crisis
Ceuta crisis: Finnish Interior Minister accuses Spain of failing to protect Schengen borders, calls for exceptional measures after thousands of migrants reach the city.
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen called on all European countries to support Italy’s proposal to temporarily exclude Spain from the Schengen Area, following the unprecedented migration crisis in the Spanish city of Ceuta over the past days.
Rantanen said in a post on X: “Spain has completely failed to protect the external borders of the Schengen Area from illegal infiltration. This situation cannot continue,” in a stance reflecting growing European pressure on Madrid to strengthen control over its southern borders.
Meloni leads the call to suspend Schengen with Spain
This position comes days after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced her country’s readiness to take exceptional measures to protect its borders and citizens’ security, including suspending the Schengen Agreement with Spain, in a notable move aimed at pressuring Madrid to tighten controls on its border with Morocco.
Ceuta: 20,000 migrants in days
According to media reports published on July 30, it is estimated that some 20,000 migrants managed to reach Ceuta, without Moroccan security forces offering any significant resistance.
Reports indicated that at least 1,500 migrants swam across during the past week, while others entered overland from Morocco.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city that consistently suffers from a migration crisis due to its geographical location. In 2021, some 10,000 people crossed its borders within days, most of them Moroccans.
To control the flow of refugees from Africa, Spanish authorities erected a high fence with barbed wire along the border with Morocco.
سباحةً وعبر السياج.. مئات المهاجرين يعبرون من المغرب إلى مدينة سبتة، وسط عجز الشرطة الإسبانية عن احتواء المشهد، ومدريد تستعد لنشر وحدات عسكرية وتعزيزات أمنية#نكمن_في_التفاصيل pic.twitter.com/ZjWZp2WJJ7
— اندبندنت عربية (@IndyArabia) July 30, 2026
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