Italy-Spain border feud exposes Europe’s deepening immigration divide

A rift between the right-wing Italian government and Spain's leftist rulers continues to grow over immigration and border security .

It has been over a week since Italy’s conservative government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, enacted stricter border controls at air and seaports for any non-EU citizen traveling from Spain.

The two countries do not share a land border.

Two days later, Spain’s left-wing government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez , enacted reciprocal measures on any non-EU citizens traveling from Italy.

Even EU citizens need to show their ID to move on, causing travel delays during a month when most Europeans travel, including over 2 million between Italy and Spain.

At issue is border security.

More specifically, the five-mile border between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

The Associated Press reported that roughly 72,000 people reportedly attempted to illegally cross the border to Ceuta during the late July surge, before Spain and Morocco could reinforce the border to prevent what the EU calls "irregular migration." SPAIN STOCKS AFRICAN ENCLAVE CEUTA WITH BOOSTED SECURITY AS MOROCCO MONITORS CALLS FOR SECOND BORDER RUSH Emma Schubart of the Henry Jackson Society told Fox News Digital that Italy’s border checks and Spain’s reciprocal measures "highlight the Meloni–Sánchez divide: enforcement-first versus a regularization program that drew 1.2 million applications." On July 31, Meloni’s government, in what she called an "extraordinary measure," decided to "temporarily suspend the free movement regime (under the Schengen agreement) in maritime and air connections with Spain, reintroducing border controls," while also offering "to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the Union's external borders." The implementation involved random checks for non-EU travelers.

Even some countries of Europe’s left are taking notice.