Spanish King and Queen visit migrant-swarmed Ceuta
Spanish King and Queen visit migrant-swarmed Ceuta
Our Foreign StaffTue, October 13, 2026 at 1:30 PM UTC
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Crowds gathered in Ceuta to welcome King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia - EPA/Shutterstock/Chema MoyaKing Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia have arrived in Ceuta in a show of solidarity with residents as they grapple with a migrant crisis.
King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia have arrived in Ceuta in a show of solidarity with residents as they grapple with a migrant crisis.
The couple will visit a cemetery to show their respects to the unidentified migrants who died during an attempted crossing into the Spanish city on the North African coast this summer.
In July, 80,000 migrants entered the Spanish territory from Morocco, with more than 140 people dying in the process.
An estimated 15,000 migrants remain in the Spanish city of 84,000 residents perched on the Mediterranean Sea.
The official royal agenda says that the King and Queen will “show the support of the Crown for Ceuta’s institutions and society”.
Large crowds of people lined up to greet the couple and shake their hands. As the King met them, some broke into the familiar sports chant: “I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish.”
The King and Queen will also meet local officials and visit a school “in a multicultural setting that respects different religions”.
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The couple will then travel to Melilla, Spain’s other North African exclave, on Wednesday. It will be the first visit by a Spanish monarch to the two cities since the King’s father, Juan Carlos I, toured them in 2007.
The continued presence of migrants in the Spanish enclave has become a hot button political issue, where opposition parties hope to use migration concerns to unseat the progressive government in elections next month.
During a visit to Ceuta in September, The Telegraph observed scuffles between migrants and police as a race ensued for accommodation.
Residents of the city have felt abandoned by national authorities, as the crisis remains visible on their streets.
Ceuta had been a place of religious coexistence, but the border crisis has strained its Christian-Muslim fault lines.
The border fences separating Ceuta and Melilla are under constant pressure from migrants both from Morocco and sub-Saharan countries who see the Spanish cities as a key step toward their ultimate hope of making it to mainland Europe.
Morocco does not recognise Spain’s sovereign claim on the specks of land that have been under Spanish control for centuries, and diplomatic watchers in Spain will be keen to see if Morocco reacts to the King’s visit.
While Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, has defended Morocco’s role in helping resolve the crisis, many in Spain have questioned whether Rabat could have done more to impede the mass crossing.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
