Travel operators welcomed news on 23 October 2026 that Italy and Spain will let their summer-season border checks on each other expire. A joint statement by Interior Ministers Matteo Piantedosi and Fernando Grande-Marlaska confirms that Spain’s controls ended at midnight on 22 October and Italy’s will lapse at the close of 23 October, restoring normal Schengen procedures on flights and ferries between the two countries. SimpleVisa’s analysis notes that from 24 October passengers on Madrid–Rome or Barcelona–Milan routes should no longer face document inspections at arrival gates, cutting transit times by an estimated 15 minutes per flight. Corporate travel managers are already removing ‘allow extra time for border checks’ advisories from itineraries. However, the same blog post points out that France continues to police all of its internal borders—including those with Spain and Italy—under a long-running security notification that currently runs to 31 October 2026 and is slated to be renewed through April 2027. In practice, that means travellers transiting the Pyrenees by road or rail, or flying from Milan or Barcelona to Paris, may still encounter French National Police checkpoints. For French businesses, the divergence creates an asymmetry: exports moving by truck from Occitanie into Catalonia will pass un-checked, yet return loads may be stopped on entry to France. Logistics managers should therefore keep CMR consignment notes and driver IDs readily available and pad schedules to absorb random inspections at Le Boulou and La Jonquera. Airlines operating Italy/Spain–France sectors must continue to remind non-EU travellers to carry passports and valid visas or residence permits. Failure to do so still triggers carrier liability fines of up to €10,000 per inadmissible passenger under French law.
Source: SimpleVisa Blog
