First royal visit since 2007: King Felipe VI in Ceuta, Melilla next
Three months after a mass influx of migrants, Spain's king and queen visited the enclave and honored the dead at Sidi Embarek cemetery.
Archive image · Photo: Casa Rosada - Gobierno de la Nación / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5 ar (cropped and resized)
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta on Tuesday, the first visit by a Spanish monarch since his father, Juan Carlos I, went there in 2007. Large crowds greeted the couple as church bells rang and people waved Spanish flags. The royal couple stayed overnight in the city and travel on Wednesday to Melilla, Spain's other enclave. The official programme said the aim was to show the Crown's support for Ceuta's institutions and society.
The visit is overshadowed by the summer's migration crisis: more than 70,000 people entered Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31, according to the Interior Ministry, and more than 140 died, AP reported. At the Muslim cemetery of Sidi Embarek, where dozens of unidentified victims are buried, the couple paid their respects. City president Juan Jesús Vivas thanked the royals for coming "to boost our morale." He estimates that up to 15,000 migrants remain in the city.
Morocco does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. During the 2007 visit, Rabat recalled its ambassador in Madrid for consultations; this time, the Moroccan government had not responded to inquiries about the trip, Euronews reported. A protest against the visit has been called in the Moroccan town of Castillejos for Wednesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did not join the trip.