Spanish PM Blocks Royal Visit to Ceuta and Melilla to Appease Morocco

The newspaper El Confidencial announced, in its Monday edition, that the government of Pedro Sánchez has chosen not to include the two cities in the royal couple’s tour in order not to "irritate" Mohammed VI.

In 2007, the King of Morocco had described the visit of the Spanish royal couple to Ceuta and Melilla as "regrettable", even threatening to "end relations between the two countries". It is therefore to avoid new tensions between Morocco and Spain that Pedro Sánchez has yielded to Moroccan pressure and prevented Felipe VI and Letizia, on tour throughout Spain, from visiting Ceuta and Melilla to boost the morale of these populations, also affected by covid-19.

Last Friday, the EFE agency published a press release stating that the royal couple will not ultimately visit Ceuta and Melilla. Neither Ceuta nor Melilla understand why Pedro Sánchez, fearing a reaction from Morocco, preferred to exclude them from the royal tour program.