King Felipe VI has told Ceuta that the city is Spain and that its border is a European Union border, on the first visit by a Spanish head of State there in almost 19 years.
He spoke on October 13 at the city’s Parador, two and a half months after the invasion of July 30 and 31, when tens of thousands of people crossed the European Union’s only land frontier with Africa. He used the phrase “Ceuta is Spain” three times and said sovereignty and territorial integrity were not negotiable.
Those who entered irregularly should return to their places of origin as soon as possible and through legally established channels, the King said. While they remained in the city they should be treated with dignity and the guarantees set out in law, though they in turn should respect the rules of coexistence and the rights of residents.
Spain’s interior ministry has put the number of irregular entries at about 72,000. Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas told the King hours earlier that the real figure was closer to 100,000.
Felipe VI said any threat to the frontiers of Ceuta and Melilla was a threat to the whole bloc, because the external border was a shared responsibility. He asked partner governments to turn the values of European integration into solidarity and commitment when protecting it.
That appeal lands awkwardly in Brussels. Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said in August that Europe had passed the Ceuta test, and the European Commission has kept its migration money flowing to Rabat, with an indicative package of €500 million for the 2021-2027 period.
Italy has kept identity checks on arrivals from Spain since August 1 and extended them again at the start of October.
The trip, which the Royal Household and the Spanish Government announced on October 1, was the first by a monarch since Juan Carlos I travelled to both cities in November 2007 and Morocco recalled its ambassador from Madrid in protest.
The King and Queen Letizia visited the Sidi Embarek cemetery, where most of the more than 100 people who died during the crossings are buried, Reuters reported. He expressed his pain at deaths he called tragic and absurd.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI told parliament on October 9 that the model of migration cooperation with Spain had reached its limits. Rabat claims both Ceuta and Melilla.
Felipe VI promised the city it would not be left alone or defenceless and said residents could count on the State and on Spanish society as a whole. The royal couple travel to Melilla on October 14, with immigration expected to weigh on the campaign for Spain’s general election.
