Spain checked about 200 travellers arriving from Italy at the country’s six largest airports on Saturday, the first day of border controls reintroduced amid a dispute with Rome over irregular migration.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said 199 passengers on 12 flights from Italy were checked at airports in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Alicante and Valencia.

Spain announced on Friday that border controls on flights and ships arriving from Italy would remain in place until September 7, following Italy’s decision to introduce similar measures.

Rome said its controls were prompted by the mass arrival of about 72,000 migrants in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on July 30.

Italy suspended the European Union’s Schengen free-movement arrangements with Spain on August 1 and said the border checks would remain in place until at least August 15.

The Italian government said the measures would not affect Spanish or other EU citizens travelling to Italy, but would involve targeted checks on non-EU nationals arriving from Spain by air or sea.

“We hope to be able to lift the suspension soon, as soon as there is no longer any risk,” ⁠Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday.

The Schengen Area allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries, although member states can temporarily reinstate border controls on security or public-order grounds.