Spain has threatened to impose counter-measures on Italy if it fails to lift border controls introduced following the mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

Roughly 78,000 migrants from neighbouring Morocco arrived in Ceuta by sea in a matter of hours on Thursday and Friday last week.

In the wake of the crossings, which saw around 100 people die, Italy partially suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, which included the closure of maritime and air entry points as well as the reinforcement of land border controls.

On Friday, Spain called the move "unjustified" and "discriminatory against the Spanish population" and demanded it be reversed by Sunday 9 August.

It added it would introduce "proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens" if Italy failed to reverse its decision.

The statement did not specify what these reprisals would be.

Italy promptly responded to Spain's warning, saying it would not accept "ultimatums or impositions" from Madrid and that it plans to keep border checks in place until at least 15 August - when it says Spain "expects a new wave of migration" to hit Ceuta.

Spain has not announced an anticipated second wave of crossings. Reports have been fuelled by social media activity by Moroccan users planning another attempt, El Pais reports.

The Spanish prime minister's office told the newspaper they were monitoring the situation but did not expect a repeat of scenes from last week.

Italy, which does not share a land border with Spain, said its decision to partially suspend the EU's ​border-free Schengen arrangements was to prevent any of the migrants who had entered Ceuta from travelling on to Italy.

Madrid dismissed this position, saying it was based on "spurious arguments" that lacked any basis in fact because the migrants who entered Ceuta had no way of entering the Schengen area. It added the vast majority of migrants have already returned to Morocco.

Last week's crossings marked a new low in relations between Spain's socialist leader Pedro Sanchez and Italy's conservative leader Giorgia Meloni - who has long called for stricter migration rules in the EU.

It remains unclear exactly why tens of thousands of migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta, but the EU's Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner has suggested criminal networks spreading disinformation were to blame - an assertion the Spanish government has agreed with.

The crossings came after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.

Morocco, for its part, has laid blame for the crisis on the court, with an unnamed government source briefing local outlets that "the deterrent element of the system collapsed and the dam gave way, not under the weight of the criminals, but of a judge's decision".

The number of people swimming to Ceuta at once has raised questions about why Morocco's border guards did not attempt to stop them.

Nearly 1,400 minors, some of them "very young boys and girls", still remain in Ceuta following last week's crossings, Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego said on Friday.

She added: "There was a situation in which the system was overwhelmed, but it is now being brought under control. It is true that there are many boys and girls, and the procedure takes time.

"We wanted to make clear that we have prioritized the most vulnerable cases."

The two exclaves have long been a bone of diplomatic contention between Spain and Morocco, which does not recognise Spanish sovereignty over them.

The Ceuta crossings have also caused a diplomatic rift among EU nations that share open borders as part of the Schengen area.

Italy's decision to suspend its agreement was backed by Finland and Denmark, while the Czech Republic called for Spain's membership to be temporarily suspended.

Italian officials have said local authorities carrying out checks do "everything possible" to ensure maximum comfort for both Spanish and other European citizens arriving in Italy from Spain.

Rome has also reiterated that Spanish citizens are exempt from additional checks when arriving in Italy, with these extra steps only for non-EU residents.

However, El Pais reported that several airport terminals have seen long queues and waiting times in recent days, with passengers arriving from Spain directed to a specific line for checks.

Temporary suspensions of the Schengen agreement are not unprecedented. Italy also maintains controls on its border with Slovenia.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv5l6yr5ko

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Crisis on NATO's southern flank?

BY Andrés Piqueras

Morocco is the United States' main base of operations in Africa, a territorial element controlling the north of the continent, and therefore a key foothold on NATO's southern flank and within the Zionist regime. The recent "cross-border exodus" from the Spanish colonial enclave of Ceuta is not a spontaneous phenomenon (nor is it migratory in itself), but rather the result of a long sequence of diplomatic decisions, legal transformations, and social tensions that have been accumulating for decades but have intensified since 2020. In the background, the international reconfiguration of the Western Sahara conflict, the persistent absence of a coherent Spanish foreign policy, the profound social crisis affecting Moroccan youth under a regime marked by structural corruption, and Morocco's growing role as a pro-imperial actor in the Sahel all intersect.

The turning point came in December 2020, when the US administration recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for diplomatic normalization between Rabat and the Zionist regime occupying Palestine. This move shattered the international consensus in place since 1975 and triggered a chain reaction: Algeria strengthened its support for the Polisario Front, the Court of Justice of the European Union successively annulled trade and fisheries agreements that included Sahrawi resources, and Morocco intensified its pressure on European states to support its autonomy plan.

From 2021 onward, several European governments — Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and even France — subordinated to Washington's dictates, aligning themselves more closely with Morocco's position on the Sahara. Their arguments would now reinforce the mantra that Morocco is a key partner for migration containment, regional security, and counterterrorism cooperation. The entire EU is sliding, in practice, towards a tacit acceptance of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, even though legally it continues to recognize the right to self-determination.

In March 2022, the Kingdom of Spain executed an unprecedented diplomatic about-face by aligning itself with Rabat and supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, effectively abandoning its historical position of supporting the Sahrawi right to self-determination recognized by the United Nations. This shift constituted a break with international legal doctrine, which considers the Spanish State as the de jure administering power of the territory since 1975, given that it has never completed a decolonization process in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) nor legally transferred sovereignty to any other authority.

By accepting the Moroccan position, the Spanish government has distanced itself from its obligations as a former colonial power—obligations that include protecting the Sahrawi population, guaranteeing a referendum, and not facilitating the annexation of a territory awaiting decolonization—and has left without political support a people who, until 1976, inhabited territories administered as Spanish provinces and whose legal ties to Spain are still recognized in numerous domestic legal systems. This shift is therefore an infamy and a historical betrayal: Spain is renouncing its colonial responsibility, legitimizing the Moroccan occupation, and placing itself in contradiction with the UN legal framework, which, increasingly timidly, continues to demand a free and verifiable process of self-determination.

But this decision also led to a break in diplomatic relations with Algeria and a reduction in gas supplies, a crucial factor given Spain's structural dependence on Algerian gas, which has historically fluctuated between 30% and 45% of total imports. Spain's energy vulnerability became evident: Algeria was the most stable and closest supplier, while Morocco could not offer equivalent energy alternatives. This dependence further highlighted Spain's subservient foreign policy towards the United States and explains the subsequent, unfortunate attempts at redress.

Thus, starting in 2023, the Spanish Foreign Minister, the enigmatic Albares, initiated a discreet rapprochement with Algeria, seeking to re-establish communication channels and reduce tensions. In 2025, President Pedro Sánchez made an official visit to Algiers, interpreted as an attempt to rebuild the lost strategic relationship (which, after the recent presidential trip, seems to be recovering, at least with regard to gas supplies—and Algeria, too, threatened and harassed, is showing signs of self-discipline). However, these steps did not change the Algerian position that Spain had yielded to pressure from orocco and has abandoned its historical responsibility for Western Sahara.

Spain's credibility is further weakened by the contradiction between its rhetoric of defending human rights and its diplomatic practice: the government systematically refuses to intervene in the face of denunciations of torture against the Sahrawi population, including the refusal to allow entry into Spain of some of the most tortured Sahrawi women under Moroccan arrest, whose cases have been documented by international organizations [Among these women are El Ghalia Djimi, Mina Baali, Salha Boutanguiza, Salka Leili and Nassra Dah, whose testimonies appear in the report Que salga todo a la luz (Hegoa, 2022), a comprehensive investigation into sexual violence, torture, disappearances and systematic repression against Sahrawi women in the occupied territories (the report can be found by searching: Hegoa - "Que salga todo a la luz. Violencias contra mujeres saharauis en los territorios ocupados" -2022-]. The extreme hunger strikes of Sahrawi activists also seem to matter little to Albares and his entire government—including the pathetic institutional left (IU, PCE, and the conglomerate of forces calling themselves "Sumar").

The most serious case is that of Naâma Asfari, a member of the Gdeim Izik group, who undertook several prolonged hunger strikes, including one lasting 46 days, documented by international media outlets such as Le Monde. Asfari suspended the strike on the verge of physical collapse, following prison pressure and the intervention of international organizations, although the exact reasons remain partially opaque. The UN determined that his confession was obtained under torture.

And the Kingdom of Spain, ever subservient, avoids any gesture that might displease Rabat, even when it comes to serious human rights violations, which, in a brutal dictatorship like Morocco's, are countless.

Meanwhile, this dictatorship continues to use migration as an instrument of political pressure, a strategy already demonstrated during the Ceuta crisis in May 2021. In June 2026, the Spanish Supreme Court issued ruling STS 814/2026, which established that summary deportations are not applicable to entries by sea. The ruling mandates the individual identification of each person, the provision of legal assistance, and the possibility of applying for asylum. Migration networks quickly detected the change: entering by swimming guaranteed a full procedure and avoided immediate expulsion. “Someone” summoned people via social media in northern Morocco, particularly in Tetouan and Castillejos, and the massive arrival of young people in Ceuta ensued (up to 50,000 in a single day!).

Of course, beyond the exploitation of these young people, this mass immigration was a response to Morocco’s internal situation. Due to its position in the international division of the Because of the systemic inequality it creates, and because of the deepening global capitalist crisis, this socio-state entity is experiencing a profound social crisis characterized by youth unemployment—exceeding 30% in many regions—a lack of job and educational prospects, structural insecurity, and the absence of mechanisms for social mobility.

Moroccan youth live in a world of perpetual frustration: meager wages, rising inflation, deteriorating public services, and a labor market unable to absorb the thousands of graduates who leave universities each year. Added to this is the systemic corruption linked to the Alawite dictatorship and the large economic conglomerates controlled by the palace's inner circle, as well as complicit French and Spanish conglomerates, for example. The Royal Palace maintains a level of spending and ostentation that contrasts sharply with the poverty of large segments of the population: luxury palaces and residences, extravagant acquisitions, and pharaonic projects. without social utility and opaque control of strategic sectors such as energy, banking, and telecommunications, as well as a large part of the agricultural sector.

Political repression is equally structural: the Rif movement has been harshly repressed since 2017, with long prison sentences for social leaders; the Sahrawi population lives under constant surveillance, with arbitrary detentions and torture documented by international organizations; and internal dissent is systematically silenced by anti-terrorism laws and special courts. Any protest lands you in prison for very long periods while awaiting concrete charges, and in many cases without families being able to see the detainees. Defense lawyers, we don't even talk about it anymore.

Such is the putrid regime favored by the French Bourbons who have occupied the Spanish throne for three and a quarter centuries, in addition to successive Spanish governments, whether right-wing or left-wing, which always embrace the Moroccan dictatorship. And now, they're even going to organize a World Cup with this equally degenerate Alawite monarchy.

Morocco's Role in the Sahel

But all of this would remain, nevertheless, partially unexplained, although already quite monstrous in itself, if we don't consider that Morocco is the main base of operations for the United States in Africa, a territorial element controlling the north of this continent — therefore a key area on NATO's southern flank — as well as a means of penetration into the region for global Zionism, which is increasingly present in Moroccan life, its army, and its economy. This corresponds to Morocco's repugnant position in favor of the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

Since 2020, Rabat has developed an influence strategy that combines religious diplomacy, military cooperation, and alliances with external powers, thereby gaining political ground where France has lost it. Morocco provides police training, intelligence, and logistical support to governments and security forces in the region aligned with historical colonizers—especially France—or with the American hegemony.

Its network of “moderate Islam” — based on the king’s religious authority as Commander of the Faithful — is used at will to soften the jihadism infiltrated into the Sahel by the Western Empire, when it proves opportune, and thus allow certain sectors of the population and political forces to align with Rabat, increasing its regional role, particularly vis-à-vis Algeria, which remains a target for potential destabilizing intervention by the Empire and the Zionist World Power embedded within it.

It goes without saying that all of this takes on even greater significance after Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso (the Sahel Alliance) embarked on a genuine decolonization process from French rule. The infiltration of jihadists, paramilitaries, mercenaries, and armed groups has flooded the Sahel region ever since. With Libya's champion destroyed, the only desired outcome is for Morocco to play the role of Sahelian power. Its expansionism—into adjacent North African territories, but also at the expense of the Canary Islands' waters—is thus supported by its American-Zionist patrons.

Therefore, wielding migration as a weapon and pushing the boundaries too far (to destabilize the Spanish government as well, on Trump's orders? — a bone that the local and European right wing are quick to pick at [i]) could ultimately backfire on Morocco itself, even, at some point, in its more formal relations with the pathetic EU.

We shall see. The peoples currently under the yoke of the abominable Alawite dictatorship (Amazighs — Rifians, Shilha, and Atlas Amazighs, all indigenous to the territory – Moroccan Arabs speaking Darija — the majority in the cities — and the occupied Sahrawis) have not yet had their final say.

[i] Apparently, American advisors are proposing to promote Moroccan sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla as well, not just over the Sahara. This is especially true after the agreement between Spain and Algeria, which involves increased purchases of Algerian oil at the expense of more expensive American oil. The pressure is therefore mounting. And these days, the 27th anniversary of Mohammed VI's accession to the throne was celebrated with an ambassadors' festival. Certainly, on television, the images of 25,000 young Moroccans, returning after a walk in Ceuta in a synchronized manner towards Morocco, with gestures of triumph and joy, as if returning from winning a match, are shocking (comment by Antonio Arnau).

https://www.lahaine.org/mundo.php/crisis-en-el-flanco-sur-de-la

TRANSLATION BY JOSE RAMONDOBA

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Ceuta: Spain sets up border controls on travelers from Italy

Mark Hallam with AFP, Reuters

Spain had warned Italy it would impose entry checks on visitors unless Rome halts its controls by Sunday. Even though they don't share a land border, the countries entered a spat after the Ceuta border rush.

Spain's government on Friday moved to impose reciprocal entry checks on people traveling from Italy. The Spanish government had warned that it would do so unless Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's governemnt lifted the border measures it has implemented against Spain.

Italy's right-wing government announced the checks at the height of the social media panic as tens of thousands of people gained entry to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta bordering Morocco last week. 

The checks are essentially symbolic, given that Ceuta is not on the European mainland and Italy and Spain do not share a land border, meaning that the vast majority of people potentially affected are tourists on planes.

Nevertheless, the issue has turned into a point of dispute between two governments of different ideological persuasions with contrasting messaging priorities on migration policy. 

https://www.dw.com/en/ceuta-spain-sets-up-border-controls-on-travelers-from-italy/a-78282840

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

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         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….