Madrid calls on Italy to stop border checks following Ceuta crisis

Madrid on Tuesday called on Italy to stop the selective border checks it has been conducting on people arriving via air and sea from Spain after suspending its Schengen arrangements with Spain following the arrival of thousands of migrants at the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta last week. During an emergency video-conferenece call of EU interior ministers on Tuesday, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska reiterated Madrid's position that the move was pointless as entry to the enclave does not automatically give access to the Schengen area. "I ask that these additional controls be lifted immediately because they clearly do not correspond to what was recognized (during the EU ministers' video call), namely that the Schengen area was never in danger," Grande Marlaska told