Ceuta border spat reaches Sardinia's ports and airports

Spain announced on Friday that it will introduce temporary border checks on visitors arriving from Italy, in response to Rome's decision to suspend the Schengen free-travel agreement after the mass migration rush into Ceuta. The checks come as a rare public spat between two European Union members, with Madrid giving Rome until Sunday to lift its controls or face countermeasures, according to the Guardian and Politico Europe.

The dispute began when Italy imposed border controls following an influx of about 78,000 migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, a deadly and unprecedented rush that has left the enclave's president describing residents as 'sad, helpless, anxious' in briefings to EU lawmakers, the BBC and the Guardian reported.

Italy's government, led by Giorgia Meloni, has said it will not take orders from Spain and will continue its temporary suspension of Schengen until at least August 15, according to Politico Europe. The German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that Spain had warned Italy it would impose entry checks unless Rome halts its controls by Sunday, even though the two countries do not share a land border.