King Felipe of Spain to visit Ceuta and Melilla — Daily Maverick
King Felipe of Spain and Queen Letizia will visit the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa on October 13 and 14. The trip will take place amid tense relations between Madrid and Rabat following the summer migration crisis at the border, Daily Maverick reports.
First trip during his reign
This will be Felipe's first visit to Ceuta and Melilla in his 12 years on the throne. Moroccan authorities have historically opposed visits by Spanish monarchs to these cities. Rabat claims sovereignty over them and considers them occupied by Spain.
Madrid, for its part, regards Ceuta and Melilla as an integral part of its territory. Ceuta has been under Spanish rule since the 17th century, while Melilla has been under Spanish rule since the 15th century. Morocco's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the planned trip.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Migration crisis
The visit is planned just over two months after more than 72,000 migrants arrived in Ceuta from Morocco at the end of July. Felipe has largely refrained from public comments on the crisis. Two weeks earlier, he mentioned Ceuta while honoring civil protection workers.
During an official dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron, the king said European countries should have shown greater solidarity with Madrid and called the situation in Ceuta unacceptable. Spanish opposition parties accused Moroccan officials of involvement or inaction and criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for taking too soft a stance toward Rabat.
Sanchez initially praised Morocco for cooperating in returning migrants and denied that Rabat had organized the crisis. However, in an interview with CNN last week, he said Moroccan border controls had failed during the mass crossing. Morocco denied easing controls, attributing the crossing to disinformation on social media, human trafficking and the interpretation of a Spanish court ruling.
