Spanish royals to visit disputed North African enclaves

Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will visit the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla on October 13 and 14, respectively, the Spanish royal household said on Thursday.

It will be Felipe VI’s first visit to the two cities since he became king in 2014. The trip comes about two months after more than 72,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco during a major border crisis.

The visit could test relations between Madrid and Rabat. Morocco claims sovereignty over both cities, while Spain considers Ceuta and Melilla part of its territory. Previous royal visits have also triggered tensions between the two countries.

Felipe VI has largely avoided public comment on the Ceuta crisis, but during a state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron on September 29, he described the situation as “unacceptable” and called for greater European solidarity with Spain.

The planned visit has also renewed debate in Spain over the causes and handling of the border crisis. Opposition parties have criticised the government’s response, while Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has acknowledged that the authorities’ response was not sufficient.

Sánchez has said there is no solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the mass crossing, but that Spanish authorities are investigating. He has also blamed the spread of disinformation on social media, following a misinterpretation of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling, as well as the actions of human-trafficking networks.

Morocco has rejected suggestions that it deliberately allowed the mass crossing, and has attributed the crisis to social media disinformation, human traffickers and confusion over Spanish legal rules.