Diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy escalates over Ceuta migrants

A diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy over the rush of tens of thousands

of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta

escalated Saturday after the government in Madrid announced

border controls on Italian travellers.

This in response to Rome's decision to impose

sanctions on visitors from Spain.

The Spanish government says the controls would stay in place for at least

a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rejected Spain's

warning on Friday that it would take "proportionate measures to protect

the interests and dignity of its citizens" if Rome didn't lift its restrictions

by an August 9th deadline.

Italians arriving at Barcelona airport were subject to random police

checks after the controls were put into effect overnight.

Angelica, a passenger from Bari Italy says

"They didn't ask for anything. The ID card or passport.

This trip went well."

Tamara, a relative of a passenger says,

"I think they are protecting their country from everything that's happening

here in Spain. Over here, we are being very permissive in a lot of things.

I don't see it as something too bad, what Italy is doing."

Maria, travelling from Naples says,

"They've created a fear of big border controls. But in the end it wasn't

like that."

Italy began enforcing air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens

on August 1st following Meloni's scathing criticism of the progressive

migration policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that

has allowed more than one million people to apply for amnesty

at the end of last month.