Felipe VI and Letizia will visit Ceuta and Melilla on October 13 and 14, 2026, in their first trip to both Spanish cities. Moroccan state institutions have stayed silent, but a newspaper close to Mohamed VI has condemned the journey and revived memories of the 2007 crisis.
Zarzuela confirmed that Felipe VI and Letizia will travel to Ceuta and Melilla on October 13 and 14, 2026. It will be their first official visit to both cities. It will also be the first visit by a Spanish monarch since 2007.
Le360 reacted first. The Moroccan newspaper is close to the environment of Mohamed VI and placed the story on its front page in Spanish and English. It described the trip as a setback for the current policy of easing tensions.
That silence matters.
Morocco's prime minister, embassy and Foreign Ministry have issued no formal response. The Royal Household has also made no official statement. ABC reported the absence of public comment from all three institutions at the time of publication.
Spanish officials have argued that the King does not need Morocco’s permission to visit any Spanish city. Any notification to Rabat would be a matter of diplomatic courtesy, rather than a request for authorization.
Madrid has presented the journey as a routine institutional visit. The stated purpose is to strengthen ties between the central government and the two cities.
Le360 reads it differently. The paper links the timing to a dispute that reaches back to the colonial period and says the trip could act as a diplomatic provocation.
The timing drives the criticism.
Le360 connects the visit with the migration tensions of the summer. It also accuses Spain's political right of taking hostile positions towards Morocco. The paper says the presence of the King and Queen could give institutional weight to positions held by the Partido Popular and Vox, which it describes as xenophobic and bellicose.
Morocco claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, while Spain treats both cities as part of its territory. Reports by AFP, EFE and El País indicate that the royal visit is likely to be read in Rabat as a political signal, but no official diplomatic crisis has been declared so far.
The newspaper also rejects claims that Moroccan authorities were responsible for the mass entry into Ceuta in July. According to Le360's account, Morocco has put human and material resources into securing the area against clandestine migration.
Le360 contrasts that position with what it calls the maturity reached by Spain and Morocco in cooperation against criminal networks and in managing migration flows. The July events remain part of the political backdrop, even though Morocco rejects the accusations directed at it.
The border dispute runs deeper.
Morocco claims Ceuta and Melilla. Spain treats them as part of its territory. International reports say the royal visit will likely be read in Rabat as a political signal that could raise tensions in the bilateral relationship. No official diplomatic crisis has been declared.
EFE reported that the October journey will be Felipe VI and Letizia's first official visit to both cities. Zarzuela announced the trip on Thursday and described it as an institutional activity meant to reinforce links between the Spanish state and Ceuta and Melilla.
Le360 says that explanation ignores the diplomatic setting. The paper portrays the trip as a test of the current relationship with Morocco and as a visit to what some Moroccan media describe as occupied enclaves. That language remains part of the media debate, not an official state statement.
The last royal visit set a clear precedent.
In November 2007, Juan Carlos and Sofía travelled to Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco recalled its ambassador to Spain, Omar Azziman. He stayed in Rabat for two months. Bilateral meetings were suspended, and Madrid was left without diplomatic interlocution with Morocco.
Morocco's prime minister at the time, Abbas el Fassi, told Parliament that the journey had crossed red lines linked to what Rabat called the country's territorial integrity. Mohamed VI's Royal Household later condemned the visit in a statement read by a royal adviser.
The statement called the trip regrettable. It also came despite the good relations that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's socialist government then maintained with Rabat.
The October dates carry that history.
Spain has announced a royal visit to two disputed cities. Moroccan official institutions have remained silent, while a newspaper close to Mohamed VI has issued the first public denunciation. The 2007 episode shows that a similar visit once led to direct diplomatic retaliation.
The trip does not prove that a new crisis has begun. It does show how quickly a routine royal itinerary can become a public test of the fragile language of rapprochement. Zarzuela's institutional framing does not remove the dispute around the journey.
