Spanish King to Visit Ceuta and Melilla as Morocco Stays Silent

The daily El País notes the absence of any statement from official Moroccan channels following Thursday’s announcement of the visit. The trip comes amid relations still marked by the mass crossings from Morocco in late July.

On Bladi.net : King Felipe VI will visit Ceuta, “whether Morocco agrees or not”

On the Spanish side, the schedule has now been set. The king and queen will begin in Ceuta on October 13, before traveling to Melilla the next day. The visit was jointly organized by the government and the Royal Household. Pedro Sánchez will not accompany them, the EFE news agency reports.

The trip was being considered before the summer crisis. After the events of July, Felipe VI received Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, who publicly said the king had committed to visiting. Madrid presents the visit as a show of the state’s support for the two cities.

In 2007, Rabat recalled its ambassador

The last visit by a Spanish monarch to Ceuta and Melilla was in November 2007. Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía sparked a diplomatic crisis with Morocco.

Before their arrival, Rabat recalled its ambassador to Spain, Omar Azziman, for consultations. Mohammed VI later condemned the visit, denouncing it as contrary to the feelings of the Moroccan people. That precedent is part of the backdrop to preparations for Felipe VI’s visit; he became king in 2014.

A political figure and analyst, interviewed anonymously by El País, anticipates a diplomatic protest as the visit approaches. He nevertheless believes both countries will seek to preserve their relations.

On Bladi.net : Felipe VI urges Europe to share responsibility for Spain’s border with Morocco

Felipe VI has already raised the issue of Ceuta with his European partners. On September 29, at the state dinner held for Emmanuel Macron in Madrid, he called on European Union countries to show greater solidarity in protecting a border he described as Spanish and European.