Italy and Spain agree to remove border checks

Passengers travelling between Spain and Italy may soon experience fewer border checks, as the two countries' prime ministers have agreed to work towards their removal. However, checks have still been implemented for now, running until October 22 in Spain and an additional week in Italy. These checks, involving random ID verification for flights and ferries, have been in place since the summer.

The dispute arose from a mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta, a Spanish city in North Africa, in late July, leading Italy to enforce checks on arrivals from Spain in August. Spain responded with its own checks a week later. EU institutions have found no evidence of migrants moving from Ceuta to mainland Europe, leading to criticism of the checks in both countries.

Interior ministers from both nations are expected to discuss alternative cooperation measures, but no details have been released yet. The scrapping of the checks would simplify travel between the two countries, but no information on delays or queues has been published yet, making it too early to guarantee shorter waiting times. Travellers are advised to keep their IDs handy and allow extra time until the governments confirm the status of the checks.