Spanish king visits Ceuta amid ongoing migrant influx
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King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia toured the North African enclave of Ceuta as authorities continue to manage the aftermath of a July surge of migrants from Morocco.
King Felipe VI arrived in Ceuta on Tuesday, the first visit by a Spanish royal to the enclave in almost twenty years, as the city copes with the fallout from an estimated 70,000 migrants who crossed from Morocco in July. The monarch and Queen Letizia will meet local officials, tour a school and attend an interfaith ceremony at the Sidi Embarek Muslim cemetery, where many of the dead from the summer crossings are buried. Felipe is scheduled to deliver an evening address from Ceuta's Parador hotel before traveling to Melilla on Wednesday.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the conservative president of Ceuta, told Spanish radio that the royal visit would bring "hope to a place that needs a lot of hope". He has described the situation as a severe national security challenge and estimates that about 15,000 migrants remain in the city, a figure higher than the central government’s estimate of 7,400 people in temporary accommodation.
Since the mass crossing, residents have voiced concerns over safety and strain on local services, with some destroying shelters and obstructing aid deliveries. The Spanish government has erected makeshift shelters to identify migrants and assess their eligibility to stay.
The crisis has become a focal point in national politics ahead of next month’s elections, prompting demonstrations on the mainland in support of Ceuta’s residents and criticism of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s handling of the situation. Sánchez has denied evidence that Morocco deliberately facilitated the crossing, though he acknowledged the presence of Moroccan military vessels near Ceuta during the event.
Morocco continues to assert historical and geographical claims over Ceuta and Melilla. Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi called for bilateral talks on the issue, a proposal the Spanish government rejected. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of misleading the public about the causes of the crossing and of treating the matter frivolously.