Spain has announced it will introduce temporary border checks on visitors from Italy in response to Rome imposing similar measures after a mass rush of people from Morocco into Ceuta. Hours earlier, Spain threatened Italy with countermeasures if it did not swiftly lift its own border checks, drawing a rebuff from Rome. The scenes infuriated EU members that back a hard line on irregular immigration, including Italy, which imposed border checks on people arriving from Spain for one month. Border authorities would in the meantime “do their utmost to ensure maximum ease of movement for Spanish and European citizens” who are not affected by border checks, the Italian statement added. Italy, which does not share a land border with Spain, introduced border controls at maritime and air entry points for third-country nationals arriving from Spain.