Migration & Borders
Spain Schengen suspension call backed by Finland
Finland has backed Italy's call for Spain to be excluded from Europe's Schengen passport-free zone over the migration crisis in Ceuta, Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said Friday.
Rantanen wrote on X that Spain had “completely failed to protect the Schengen Area's external border from infiltration” and said countries that do not fulfil that obligation “cannot be members of Schengen”.
The Finnish position adds support to Italy's push after migrant arrivals overwhelmed Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta. The latest Finnish statement described the arrivals as numbering in the tens of thousands.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on Thursday for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen travel zone. She said Italy was bringing together relevant bodies and would be ready to act after those meetings, including through exceptional measures such as suspending the Schengen agreement with Spain.
Her comments followed a similar call by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose remarks prompted Spain to summon Italy's ambassador in Madrid. Tajani wrote that he favoured closing the Schengen area with Spain and claimed irregular and uncontrolled immigration posed a danger to national security.
The Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta said at least nine people had died while trying to reach the enclave by swimming. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Luis Albares accused Tajani of weaponising immigration for political ends and said Spain expected European solidarity, not partisan demagoguery.
Italy's far-right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has called for the whole Schengen zone to be suspended. The Schengen Area covers 29 European countries that have officially abolished controls at their common borders.
Update
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen was identified as the official backing Italy's call.
Rantanen said Spain had failed to protect the Schengen area's external border and argued countries that do not do so cannot remain in Schengen.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 10:14:32 UTC.
Update
Finland backed Italy's call to shut Spain out of the Schengen zone over the Ceuta migration crisis, according to a minister.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 10:00:20 UTC.
Update
Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni called for Spain's suspension from the Schengen travel zone.
Meloni said Italy was ready to consider exceptional measures after meetings of competent bodies.
The Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta said at least nine people had died trying to reach the enclave by swimming.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 21:54:17 UTC.
Update
Spain summoned Italy's ambassador in Madrid to lodge a protest.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Luis Albares called the Italian foreign minister's message improper for a partner and friendly country.
Albares said Spain expected European solidarity rather than partisan demagoguery.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 20:55:32 UTC.
Update
Spain criticised Italy over the call to exclude Spain from the Schengen area.
Spain summoned its envoy in Rome.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 20:35:33 UTC.
Update
Tajani said Spain's decision to grant citizenship to more than 500,000 irregular immigrants was wrong and encouraged human trafficking.
Matteo Salvini also called for the Schengen zone to be suspended and Europe's borders defended.
The item explains that Schengen covers 29 European countries that have abolished frontier controls at common borders.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 19:22:58 UTC.
Update
Antonio Tajani made the call after hundreds of migrants entered Spain’s exclave of Ceuta from Morocco.
Tajani wrote on X that he favoured closing the Schengen area with Spain.
Tajani said irregular and uncontrolled immigration poses a danger to national security.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 19:12:13 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Arrival and casualty figures in Ceuta remain developing and are attributed to authorities or officials where specified.
The supplied material does not establish that Spain has been suspended from Schengen; it describes calls and support for such action.
Source
AFP news report published on .