Spain and Italy have jointly announced that, from the first minute of 24 October 2026, the temporary passport and ID checks re-introduced in early August will cease on all direct flights and passenger ferries between the two countries. The decision, confirmed by Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska after a call with his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi, follows what Madrid calls “a meticulous security assessment” of the migratory pressures that erupted after the late-July Ceuta incident. The controls—an exceptional measure allowed under Articles 25-26 of the Schengen Borders Code—had complicated corporate travel for more than two months. Airlines were forced to add manual document checks at boarding gates, while ferry operators warned of 30- to 45-minute delays for embarkation at Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras. According to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (CEOE), companies incurred an estimated €38 million in extra compliance costs, ranging from staff time to missed connections. Under the agreement, both governments will replace systematic border inspections with “enhanced police cooperation and real-time data-sharing.” That includes joint risk-profiling teams deployed at Madrid-Barajas and Rome-Fiumicino, plus weekly intelligence swaps on irregular migration routes across the western Mediterranean. Interior ministries insist the plan respects Schengen principles while addressing Italy’s earlier security concerns. What changes for travellers? EU citizens and most business travellers will again move through the usual domestic-flight channels and walk-off ferry ramps without showing a passport. Non-EU nationals, however, must still carry their passport and the appropriate visa or residence permit throughout their journey, a point underlined in an industry bulletin issued today by travel-tech firm SimpleVisa. Airlines say they will update mobile apps and pre-trip emails to remove outdated “border-check” warnings by the end of the weekend. The restoration of friction-free mobility matters well beyond holidaymakers. Italy is Spain’s second-largest intra-EU trading partner; in 2025 some 2.3 million business trips were registered between the two markets. With the winter conference season looming—and with Madrid hosting the Mobile Talent Summit in early November—multinationals welcomed the news. “Lifting the controls saves both time and goodwill,” said Marta Sanz, Mobility Director at Iberia Corporate Travel, predicting a “swift return to pre-crisis travel volumes within weeks.”
Source: El País
