European leaders are openly calling for Spain’s removal from the continent’s open-border system after tens of thousands of illegal aliens swarmed the nation’s North African enclave.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was shocked by the images of the invasion of aliens into Ceuta and suggested removing Spain from the Schengen free-travel zone, Politico reported Friday. Ceuta, a coastal Spanish territory in North Africa sharing a land border with Morocco, was flooded by 50,000 migrants within roughly 24 hours on Thursday, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, Reuters reported.
Ceuta has a population of roughly 84,000, according to the BBC.
Spain announced the legalization of 500,000 illegal aliens in April, according to a letter posted by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on X at the time.
The Spanish and Italian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a Thursday post to X. “We are ready to intervene with extraordinary measures … including the suspension of the Schengen area with Spain.”
Ceuta’s border with Morocco is the only land border dividing the European Union from Africa.
“I am in favor of closing the Schengen Area to Spain,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a Thursday X post. “The images arriving from Ceuta show how the Madrid government’s decision to grant Spanish — and therefore European — citizenship to over 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking.”
“This message is unbecoming of the Foreign Minister of a partner and friendly country from which we expect European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on X, in response to Tajani’s post.
Officials from Finland and Denmark also weighed in on the situation.
“Spain has completely failed to protect the external border of the Schengen area from infiltration. This cannot continue … Countries that do not fulfill their obligation to protect the external border cannot be members of Schengen,” Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said on X.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “the EU must immediately take all necessary measures and consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen cooperation,” according to France 24.
The Schengen Area consists of 29 countries in Europe including Spain, Italy, Denmark and Finland. When traveling from one Schengen country to another, no border checks are usually conducted. The countries also have a unified visa for foreign visitors.
(DCNF)