Preference Cascade: Schengen Is Dying, Is the EU Next on the Chopping Block?

Both Beege and I have written about the invasion of Spain, and the hits keep on coming.

I’d like to focus more closely on the theme in my first post on this today: the European reaction to Spain’s pathetic response to this particular crisis and its migration policies in particular. 

Le immagini che arrivano da Ceuta sono impressionanti e dimostrano, ancora una volta, che l’immigrazione clandestina fuori controllo rappresenta una minaccia concreta per la sicurezza dei confini europei.

Mi sono confrontata con il Ministro dell’Interno Matteo Piantedosi.…

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 30, 2026

The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders.

I have spoken with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Italy will not stand by and watch. We are convening the relevant bodies, and following these meetings, we are prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain.

On illegal immigration, we will not yield an inch: defending the borders, stopping human traffickers, and ensuring effective repatriations will continue to be the line of this Government.

Georgia Meloni got the ball rolling, blasting Spain’s policies and declaring that Italy wanted nothing to do with the mass migration that Spain had been encouraging. This matters for two reasons: first, once these illegal immigrants get papers, as Spain has been doing, they gain access to all European countries in the Schengen area without having to go through any checks at all due to the free movement rules. 

Second, the EU has a policy that illegal immigrants have to be settled “fairly,” meaning that countries that get flooded can export their excess illegals to other countries within the Union, and those countries must take them or face steep fines. 

European Nations that demanded Suspension of Spain from Schengen Area 🇪🇸🇪🇺
Source = Politico, The Local and Europa Press

01. Italy 🇮🇹
02. Finland 🇫🇮
03. Denmark 🇩🇰
04. Sweden 🇸🇪
05. Czech Republic 🇨🇿
06. Austria 🇦🇹
07. France 🇫🇷

— NS Stat-Mapper (@ns_statmapper) July 31, 2026

Well, Meloni’s angry X post reverberated throughout Europe, and suddenly other countries are getting on the “get Spain” bandwagon, which is impressive enough, but also explains why Ursula von der Leyen is panicking and lashing out at Spain as well. 

The images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable.

We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules.

Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.

I tasked two Commissioners…

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 31, 2026

The images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable.

We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules.

Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.

I tasked two Commissioners to support to control the situation.

@magnusbrunner is already working closely with Spain and is ready to travel to critical points.

He will work on additional operational support to Spain, including through Frontex. @dubravkasuica is in contact with her Moroccan counterpart.

I am confident that our close partnership with Morocco will help deliver concrete results.

That’s bureaucrat-speak for “STOP THIS NOW!” I really mean it. 

https://t.co/U8q9HMHW4z The socialist government in Spain is allowing this to happen and it could destroy Europe. Once all these people are in Spain, they can travel throughout the EU, wreaking havoc throughout the continent, and the socialist prime minister Sanchez doesn’t care.

— John Bulkeley (@bulkeley_john) July 31, 2026

Illegal immigration has, for obvious reasons, been a sore point in Europe and has led to the upswing in populist parties across the continent. Scandinavia has gone full anti-immigrant over the past couple of years, and the AfD has skyrocketed in support in Germany. Reform is a juggernaut, and France is facing political gridlock for this and other reasons. 

EU countries call for Spain to be kicked out of Schengen.

On July 30, Spain under far-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez provoked the largest migration crisis since 2015.

At least 50,000 North African migrants stormed the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. No one tried to… pic.twitter.com/Dod855PCLb

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

EU countries call for Spain to be kicked out of Schengen.

On July 30, Spain under far-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez provoked the largest migration crisis since 2015. 

At least 50,000 North African migrants stormed the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. No one tried to stop them or protect the EU borders.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed expelling Spain from the Schengen visa-free zone to protect Italy’s borders from the flood of illegal migrants.

“Italy will not stand idle,” Meloni said.

Her initiative is already backed by Finland, Czechia, and Denmark — forming a bloc of four states with Italy.

France has already introduced border controls with Spain.

“Spain has completely failed to protect the external Schengen border. This cannot continue. Countries that do not fulfill their obligations cannot remain members of the Schengen area,” the Finnish minister stated.

It’s taken only a few hours for this to go from one Prime Minister, who is on the right fringe of the establishment in Europe, to seven major countries banding together to trash Spain and try to kick it out of the Schengen Zone. 

Face à la situation à Ceuta, conformément à la demande du président de la République, le déploiement des renforts a débuté à la frontière espagnole :

Dès ce vendredi, en plus des moyens déjà déployés quotidiennement, les renforts sont triplés, avec 184 policiers mobilisés avec… https://t.co/WsytTKZU4d

— Laurent Nuñez (@NunezLaurent) July 31, 2026

In response to the situation in Ceuta, in accordance with the request of the President of the Republic, the deployment of reinforcements has begun at the Spanish border:

Starting this Friday, in addition to the resources already deployed daily, the reinforcements will be tripled, with 184 police officers mobilized along with enhanced drone surveillance.

Starting tomorrow, they will be quintupled, bringing the total to 334 police officers and gendarmes in addition to the personnel usually mobilized. Aerial surveillance resources will also be strengthened with the deployment of 3 aircraft from the Border Police. Furthermore, patrols on trains will be more heavily mobilized along the Franco-Spanish rail axis.

The deployment will be intensified as much as necessary.

But that isn’t the real story, or at least the bigger one. It’s hard to say whether this issue is breaking the dam and creating a larger preference cascade, but beneath this issue lies a larger one, and the one that von der Leyen is freaking out about: the future of the European Union itself, which is increasingly being seen as a failed experiment. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz just called the EUROPEAN UNION A COMPLETE FAILURE in front of global elites by stating, “Germany and Europe have wasted incredible potential. We have become the world champion of over-regulation and zero growth.” pic.twitter.com/K0TZZGvsZV

— Scott Adams (@scottadamsshow) January 22, 2026

Chancellor Merz is not saying anything that other countries in the EU don’t understand at some level, but their entire political project and their own futures are tied to the fate of the EU. It is a project that began not long after World War II, first with the European Coal and Steel Community, intended to tie the French and German economies into a union that would make war impossible, and developed over 75 years into the European Union. 

🚨 BREAKING: Italy has suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain after 60,000 migrants broke into Spanish territory. The Italian Ministry of the Interior has ordered the closure of the sea and air borders with Spain.

🇬🇧 Become a Friend of GB News: https://t.co/RxzT9yFXwS pic.twitter.com/0Opt8idvBP

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 31, 2026

It has failed. The long-desired technocracy is a disaster, but all their fates are tied to it. The populist revolt is aimed ultimately at the European Union, even if most people don’t quite understand that. Clearly the Brits did, and looked like fools to everybody else. 

Not so much now. 

Now that the dam is breaking on the Schengen Zone, the European Union could be next. Probably not a complete collapse, but it is likely to face greater resistance in the coming months and years. 

People talk a lot about “norms,” and they really do matter. When norms are broken, new possibilities arise. There are rules of the game, which are hard to change, and then there are the informal rules that we obey without thinking about them much. When THOSE rules fall apart, lots of other things do too. 

They are falling apart, and the people in power are seeing the writing on the wall, and doing what they can to protect themselves. 

Angele Merkel set the stage for this, as the ultimate Eurocrat and naive moralist who believed that you can will reality out of existence. 

Perhaps I am reading too much into one event, but the cascade is obvious, at least on Schengen. I expect it to go further, sooner rather than later. 

Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

Help us continue exposing Democrats’ plans to lead America down a dangerous path. Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.