Spain’s king visits Melilla after defending sovereignty over North African territories
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Melilla on Wednesday, a day after visiting Ceuta, where the monarch defended Spanish sovereignty over the two North African territories claimed by Morocco.
The royal couple were greeted by cheering crowds waving red and yellow Spanish flags, public television footage showed, mirroring their reception in Ceuta on Tuesday.
Their trip to Ceuta and Melilla is the first royal visit to the two territories since 2007, when a diplomatic crisis erupted with Morocco.
It comes after more than 70,000 migrants streamed into Ceuta in an unprecedented surge on July 30-31, triggering a migration crisis that continues to affect the tiny territory.
The king said Tuesday in Ceuta that it and Melilla were “an inalienable part” of Spain and “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country are not negotiable.”
Spain was committed to maintaining good relations with Morocco, he said, adding that this required “good faith” from both sides.
He also pledged that the Spanish state would not leave Ceuta’s 80,000 residents “alone or defenceless”.
Rumours have swirled over who instigated the rush, with the Spanish right accusing Morocco of orchestrating it for political motives. Rabat and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have denied those claims.
Days before the current trip, Moroccan King Mohammed VI rejected any “pressure” or “blackmail” over cooperation with Spain and criticised what he called the “instrumentalisation” of the migration crisis.
Rabat has so far made no official response to the royal visit to the two cities, which have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
In Melilla, Felipe and Letizia were due to meet local authorities at the city’s assembly, visit a school and meet representatives of civil society.
The king was scheduled to deliver a speech at the latter meeting.
