Spain carried out border controls on nearly 200 passengers arriving from Italy on Saturday, marking the first day of checks reintroduced after a dispute between Madrid and Rome over irregular migration.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said officials checked 199 passengers travelling on 12 flights from Italy to the country’s six largest airports. The checks took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Alicante and Valencia.

The Spanish government announced on Friday that controls on flights and ships arriving from Italy would remain in place until September 7. Madrid said the decision followed measures introduced by Rome after a large movement of migrants towards Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta.

Italy suspended the European Union’s passport-free Schengen arrangements with Spain from August 1 and said its controls would remain in place at least until August 15.

Rome said the measures would not target Spanish or other European Union citizens travelling to Italy. Instead, Italian authorities said they would conduct targeted checks on non-EU nationals arriving from Spain by air or sea.

The dispute follows a reported surge in migration towards Ceuta on July 30, when around 72,000 people were reported to have attempted to reach the Spanish territory.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome hoped the temporary suspension could be lifted soon.

“We hope to be able to lift the suspension soon, as soon as there is no longer any risk,” Tajani told Italy’s Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday.

The renewed controls mark a significant development within the Schengen Area, where travellers normally cross internal borders without routine passport checks.

The Schengen Area currently covers 29 European countries and permits largely passport-free movement between participating states. Member countries can temporarily restore internal border controls when they consider them necessary for security or public-order reasons.

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Spain and Italy have both framed their measures as temporary responses to migration and security concerns. However, the reciprocal restrictions have highlighted the political pressure facing European governments as they seek to manage irregular migration while maintaining the principle of free movement.

For travellers, the measures mean that additional checks may take place on routes between Spain and Italy during the period covered by the temporary controls.

The Spanish government has not indicated that the measures will affect ordinary travel between the two countries beyond the temporary checks. Their continuation will depend on the migration and security situation in the coming weeks.