Felipe VI held a meeting yesterday at the Zarzuela Palace with the main Defense officials to analyze the situation in Ceuta from a military perspective. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles; the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón; the Chief of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero; the Chief of the Land Operational Command, Lieutenant General Julio Salom; and the General Commander of Ceuta, Division General Luis Jesús Fernández Herrero.
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The meeting takes place just over a month after the migration crisis of July 31. Since then, the King and Queen have been following the evolution of the situation in Ceuta daily, through phone conversations with authorities and social actors. Yesterday’s meeting now adds the military perspective to that monitoring. Alongside Robles and the JEMAD, the King was able to learn firsthand the assessment of the operational command leaders and the General Commander of Ceuta regarding the situation in the autonomous city. The Royal Household announced the meeting on Tuesday afternoon through its social media.
Felipe VI has expressed his willingness to travel to the two autonomous cities, a trip that, for now, has not been scheduled. Although a few days ago President Pedro Sánchez stated that the King’s visit would take place “in the coming weeks,” the truth is that no trip by Felipe VI to Ceuta is currently being planned nor is there a date for it. The Government does not consider it advisable for the visit to take place while the current situation persists, fearing that Morocco might interpret the presence of the head of state in one of the two cities as a provocation and respond with new migratory pressure on the border. A second wave of arrivals could worsen the situation in Ceuta and also increase pressure on Melilla.
During these weeks, the King has closely followed the evolution of the crisis and has maintained constant contact with the authorities of both cities. He spoke with the President of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, in the early stages of the emergency and addressed the situation again personally during the audience they held at the Marivent Palace in early August. After that meeting, Vivas revealed that Felipe VI had conveyed his “personal commitment” to visit Ceuta as soon as circumstances allowed.
Don Felipe has also maintained telephone contact with the President of Melilla, Juan José Imbroda, as well as with various representatives and social actors from the autonomous cities, as part of the thorough monitoring that the head of state has been conducting of the situation in both territories since late July.
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The meeting at Zarzuela also takes place a few days after the JEMAD, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, who maintains permanent contact with Felipe VI, traveled to Ceuta and Melilla to learn firsthand about the situation on the ground. The highest operational officer of the Armed Forces first visited Melilla and, 24 hours later, traveled to Ceuta.
In Ceuta, López Calderón held meetings with military commanders and various civil authorities, including President Juan Jesús Vivas. The visit allowed him to directly learn about the work carried out by the nearly 3,000 soldiers stationed at the General Command of Ceuta, where the Tercio Duque de Alba 2º of the Legion, the Ceuta Regulars Group No. 54, and the Montesa Cavalry Regiment No. 3 have a prominent presence, in addition to artillery, engineers, logistics, and support units.
The trip also coincided with a moment of special tension for the troops deployed in the city. In recent weeks, several incidents have occurred during patrols, and Defense has authorized that, in certain services, one of the members carry their service weapon with live ammunition to be used exclusively in self-defense. The JEMAD’s visit also took place after Minister Robles contacted the Spanish detachments deployed on the Chafarinas Islands and the Vélez de la Gomera and Alhucemas rocks, Spanish sovereign territories located off the Moroccan coast.
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