Spain has decided to keep its temporary border-control regime on travellers arriving from Italy for an additional 15 days, extending the measure from the previous expiry of 22 September to 24:00 on 7 October 2026. The extension is laid out in Order INT/977/2026, published late on 21 September in Spain’s Official State Gazette and confirmed by the Interior Ministry. The checks apply to all air and maritime connections originating in the Italian Republic. They are the latest move in a summer-long tit-for-tat between Rome and Madrid that began when the Italian government reinstated controls on passengers arriving from Spain on 31 July in response to the mass migrant crossings into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. Italy subsequently prolonged its own controls until at least 1 October. Practically, flights and ferries continue to operate on normal schedules, but travellers can be pulled aside for documentary inspection on arrival in either country. Airlines report that spot checks typically add 10–25 minutes to disembarkation times; ferry operators have warned of 30-minute delays at Barcelona and Valencia terminals when several Italian arrivals overlap. Business-travel implications are two-fold. First, companies moving staff or equipment between the two Mediterranean markets should continue to factor added buffer time into itineraries and ensure employees carry either a passport or an electronic Italian/Spanish national ID card rather than paper IDs, which Spain will not accept. Second, mobility managers should alert non-EU assignees that Schengen continuity is temporarily interrupted on this corridor—third-country nationals must keep passports and any required Schengen visas in hand luggage for presentation. While the Spanish order is limited to 15 days, officials in Madrid did not rule out a further renewal. Under Schengen rules, internal border controls can be rolled over in 15-day blocks for up to two months, provided the threat assessment is updated each time. Italy’s next decision point falls on 1 October and Spain’s on 7 October; observers expect both capitals will calibrate their stance to migration flows across the central Mediterranean in the intervening period.
Source: RusTourismNews
