Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Ceuta on Tuesday, the first visit by the King and Queen during their reign and the first by a head of state since Juan Carlos I in 2007 (ABC, El Confidencial, El País). Thousands of people welcomed them with flags (El País, La Vanguardia). Juan Jesús Vivas spoke to them of “the greatest security crisis of the democracy” (ABC) and of a city that is “a pressure cooker” (El País). The King said that sovereignty and territorial integrity “are not negotiable” (El País, El Mundo, El Confidencial) and, according to ABC, asked that those who entered irregularly return “as soon as possible” to their country. Ursula von der Leyen called for the quick return of those migrants to Morocco (El Mundo, ABC, RTVE) and the Government approved urgent aid of 45.3 million (El Faro de Ceuta; Moncloa speaks of 45 million). Feijóo reproached Sánchez for not accompanying the King (La Vanguardia, El Confidencial, El Mundo).
It is the first time in almost two decades that the Royal Household has travelled to Ceuta, and it does so more than two months after the mass entry of migrants in late July. The message on sovereignty is aimed at Morocco, with which the Government wants to keep cooperating, and it comes less than seven weeks before an election in which Ceuta is already a campaign issue.
If you live in Ceuta, the 45.3 million in aid and the debate over returns are what affect you most. If not, it is worth following whether Morocco responds and how that conditions the relationship with a key partner on migration.
For the Government and those who defend the trip, it was a gesture of support for a battered city, with Rabat having taken no reprisals, according to El País (La Vanguardia reports that the Government does not fear them).
For the PP, Sánchez left the King “alone” and should have acted more firmly toward Morocco (La Vanguardia, El Mundo). For columnists such as Juan Soto Ivars (ABC), the trip may be a trap for the King if Rabat responds harshly.
Three things remain unclear: whether Morocco responds officially, whether there is a concrete plan for the returns Brussels is asking for, and what more is known about the ships that entered in July. Today, the clearest signal would be a reaction from Rabat, or a prolonged silence, after such explicit words from the King.
ABC, El País, El Mundo, El Confidencial, La Vanguardia, Europa Press, 20minutos, RTVE, Antena 3, El Faro de Ceuta, La Moncloa · Oct. 13, 2026
The King and Queen visit Ceuta, the first royal visit in 19 years, and Felipe VI says its sovereignty “is not negotiable”
The King asked that migrants who entered irregularly return to their country “as soon as possible,” and the Government approved 45.3 million in aid for the city. Rabat has not reacted officially, according to El País.
Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Ceuta on Tuesday. It is the first time the King and Queen have travelled to the city since they began their reign and the first visit by a head of state since Juan Carlos I’s in 2007, according to ABC, El Confidencial and El País. Thousands of people welcomed them with flags and cheers (El País, La Vanguardia). The city’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, told them the visit brings “hope” to Ceutans who feel they are in a “tunnel with no way out” (Europa Press), spoke of “the greatest security crisis of the democracy” (ABC) and warned that Ceuta is “a pressure cooker” (El País). According to Antena 3, the royal party observed a minute of silence for those who died in the mass entry of migrants in late July.
The most repeated line was the King’s: “Sovereignty and territorial integrity are not negotiable and, in the face of any risk, our obligation is to defend them” (El País, El Mundo, El Confidencial). Europa Press sums up the message as “Ceuta is Spain,” and El Confidencial reports that Felipe VI called Ceuta and Melilla “non-renounceable” and told Ceutans: “You are not alone.” ABC adds that he asked for the return “as soon as possible” of those who entered irregularly, and La Vanguardia speaks of a demand for “good faith” from Morocco.
Brussels and the Government moved along the same line. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called for the quick return to Morocco of those migrants (El Mundo, ABC, RTVE) while also backing stronger cooperation with Rabat (El País). The Government approved urgent aid of 45.3 million euros (El Faro de Ceuta); the Moncloa website speaks of 45 million to guarantee the city’s financial stability. According to ABC, the European Parliament will process including Ceuta and Melilla among the Union’s outermost regions; this comes from a single outlet.
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was not in Ceuta. Feijóo reproached him for leaving the King “alone” and said he would not have done so (La Vanguardia, El Confidencial, El Mundo), while the Government defended the visit and said it does not fear reprisals (La Vanguardia). Onda Cero reports that minister Ángel Víctor Torres was booed during the greeting from the City Hall balcony while the King and Queen were given an ovation; this is a single-outlet report.
Today it is worth looking to Rabat. El País reports that Morocco officially ignored the visit, with no reprisals or protests; El Mundo maintains that the Government does not rule out withdrawing its ambassador. These are two versions and neither is confirmed. With 46 days to Nov. 29, the trip is already part of the campaign.