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Spain’s government began imposing border controls on flights and ships arriving from Italy at midnight on Saturday, with the measures set to remain in place until Sept. 7 amid a dispute with its neighboring country over irregular migration, Reuters reported.

The checks require Italian passengers, as well as travelers arriving from Italy, to undergo passport, nationality and visa checks.

Gabriel Escarrer, chief executive of Spain’s largest hotel chain Meliá Hotels International, has warned that these measures could damage tourism in Catalunya, Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, Spanish news site Democrat reported.

He said tourism contributes almost 14% of Spain’s GDP and described the decision as leaving the sector “speechless” during one of the most important periods of the year, FTN News reported.

Italy is one of Spain’s most important international tourism markets.

Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute show that more than 5.4 million Italian tourists visit Spain annually, making Italy the country’s fourth-largest source market.

Spain received 2.8 million visitors from Italy in the first six months of the year, an 8.7% increase from the same period last year.

Spain, the world’s second-largest tourism destination by visitor numbers after France, welcomed a record 96.8 million foreign visitors last year.

During the first six months of 2026, 46.57 million international visitors arrived in Spain, 4.6% more than during the same period last year.