Spanish royals begin sensitive diplomatic visit to tense Ceuta

Cheering crowds waving Spanish flags lined the streets of Ceuta on Tuesday as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia began a diplomatically sensitive visit to the North African city, following July's mass migrant influx from neighbouring Morocco.

Their trip will mark the first royal visit since 2007, when a diplomatic crisis erupted with neighbouring Morocco, which claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Spain's other North African territory of Melilla.

More than 70,000 migrants streamed into the small city of around 80,000 inhabitants in an unprecedented surge on July 30-31. Scores died.

Most returned to Morocco in the following hours but thousands have remained for weeks in often dire conditions, sleeping rough in the streets or on the beach.

The crisis has angered locals and eroded Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's standing before a November 29 general election in which migration will feature prominently.

Felipe and Letizia greeted well-wishers lining the streets of Ceuta, stopping to shake hands and exchange a few words with members of the crowd as they made their way to city hall to meet local authorities.

People held up their phones to take pictures of the royal couple, while others waved Spanish flags and cheered as they passed, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Some wore T-shirts bearing the slogan "Ceuta is not for sale. Ceuta must be defended".

International law

Toni Jimenez, 56, a nursing assistant who had waited outside city hall since 9:00 am wearing a T-shirt bearing the royal couple's picture, said she hoped the visit would send a clear message to neighbouring Morocco that Ceuta and Melilla were Spanish.

"We've been waiting a long time for this visit," she said, adding that the migrant influx in July had left residents fearing for the future of the Spanish territory.

Others said the king should have visited sooner.

"The king should have come on the first or second day. And he should have come dressed as captain general of the armed forces, which is what he is," said Susana Roman, a 57-year-old jurist who is part of the "Let's Save Ceuta" platform.

Police and soldiers have been deployed to the streets of Ceuta for the Spanish royals' visit. By Thomas COEX (AFP)

The government insists it must respect international law by assessing whether the migrants are entitled to asylum, while hundreds of unaccompanied children cannot be summarily deported.

The authorities have set up thousands of places in temporary shelters and cleared the main camps on the beaches but some people continue to live on the surrounding hills and the streets.

Ana Maria Diaz, a 69-year-old pensioner, said the king should have come earlier to see the makeshift migrant encampments -- and should visit the outlying areas of Ceuta where they concentrate.

"You don't see it here but if you go to the outlying neighbourhoods...it's terrible," Diaz, who was holding a Spanish flag, told AFP.

Diplomatic risks

The royals will visit a cemetery where they will pay tribute to the migrants who died -- most by drowning as they tried to swim around a border barrier.

Felipe is also due to make a speech during a meeting with members of Ceuta's civil society before the monarchs travel to Melilla on Wednesday.

The visit comes at a particularly sensitive time for Spain's historically delicate relations with Morocco, as rumours swirl over the potential role Rabat may have played in the July rush.

The Spanish right has accused Morocco of orchestrating it for political motives, which Rabat and Sanchez have denied.

The authorities have set up temporary shelters and cleared the main camps on the beaches. By Thomas COEX (AFP)

Moroccan King Mohammed VI broke his silence on Friday, condemning "the irresponsible statements made by certain political and media circles and their blatant instrumentalisation of the situation", in apparent reference to Spanish criticism.

Ceuta resident Mohamed Hamadi, 41, said he was unconcerned about the potential diplomatic fallout and hoped to see the royals.

"What business does the king of Morocco have here, him and his opinion, if Ceuta has always been Spanish?" Hamadi told AFP.