Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will visit Ceuta and Melilla on 13 and 14 October 2026. It will be their first official visit to the autonomous cities since 2014, with the King having already welcomed the long-awaited trip.
The dates are set for 13 and 14 October 2026. Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will travel to Ceuta and Melilla after the Household of His Majesty the King confirmed the plan on Thursday. The last royal visit to both cities took place in 2014. Asked about the trip as he arrived at Congress for the XII Foro Parlamentario Iberoamericano, Felipe VI smiled and replied: "como siempre".
The central government agreed to the itinerary. That matters because Morocco continues to claim both Spanish territories. The Crown has also placed Ceuta and Melilla at the centre of its recent public messaging. EFE, El País and ABC describe the journey as an agreement between Moncloa and the Casa del Rey, not as a purely ceremonial trip arranged by the Crown.
Pedro Sánchez will not accompany the King and Queen on the journey. According to RTVE, EFE and El País, representation from the government is expected to come through the minister designated for duty instead.
Felipe VI sounded ready for it.
The Casa de S.M. el Rey has not released the detailed programme. Zarzuela said officials will publish the schedule in the coming days. The meetings and public appearances are still unknown. ABC and EFE have also reported that the itinerary remains pending.
One fact is settled. The King and Queen will spend two days in both autonomous cities under an itinerary agreed with the Executive.
For Ceuta and Melilla, this will be the monarchs' first official visit since Felipe VI's proclamation in 2014. The journey also follows months of attention from the King after the events that affected Ceuta. Since 30 July, he had shown his support in telephone conversations with Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta.
The visit is scheduled immediately after Spain’s National Day on 12 October, a timing that gives the journey additional political and symbolic weight. Reports by EFE and RTVE place the two-day visit within that broader national calendar, while the detailed programme remains to be announced.
The timing is close.
On 1 August, the Crown issued a statement in which Felipe VI expressed "gran preocupación e indignación". He called for measures that would show the support and affection of the rest of Spain to the people of Ceuta and Melilla. He also said the state must protect their security and prevent a repeat of events that caused a tragic loss of dozens of lives.
Vivas later met the King at Marivent. It was a historic meeting. Vivas said Felipe VI had committed to visiting both autonomous cities as soon as possible. The new dates now turn that commitment into an official programme. Local authorities and residents have a fixed date around which to organise the public reception.
The King's most recent remarks on Ceuta came during the gala dinner for the state visit of Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron on 29 September. Felipe VI called the events there "inaceptable". He described them as the mass intrusion of tens of thousands of people across a Spanish and European border. He said the episode posed a major challenge for security and public order.
The visit has a clear political setting. The Crown has expressed support for the two cities and called on the government to guarantee their security. Readers following the wider Spanish agenda can also consult an earlier report on another major national story.
It also puts the monarchy's constitutional role in a concrete setting. Felipe VI is expected to reaffirm the Crown's connection with every territory that forms Spain. The government's agreement gives the journey institutional backing. The programme is still pending. The central fact is not.
The King and Queen are going to Ceuta and Melilla.
