The European Commission has given Spain the green light to take the unprecedented move to temporarily suspend its open border policy with France under the Schengen agreement in a bid to curtail mass protests targeting a European Central Bank summit set to take place in Barcelona next week.

 

“The Spanish Government has taken the decision for security reasons, upon the request made by the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Felip Puig, in charge of security in Catalonia. Police reports pointed to the possible involvement of foreign nationals travelling to the city to take part in potential violent street protests,” reports the Catalan News Agency.

The 1986 Schengen Protocol allows free movement of European citizens between countries who sign up to the agreement. The only way the policy can be suspended by an individual nation is if there exists “a serious threat to public order or domestic security.”