The afternoon promised to be intense, and it was. Ceutíes who flocked in droves to see the kings Felipe and Letizia up close and, with luck, to obtain a greeting, a photo, or an autograph. Hundreds of people from the barrio de Manzanera, where the oldest school in Ceuta is located and chosen as the monarchs’ first stop on the afternoon’s schedule, gathered at the fences that marked the route of the Kings from their cars to the C.E.I.P. Vicente Aleixandre. There was exemplary emotion, chants and cheers, without any excess.
In a Ceuta that was expectant and festive, the Ceutíes took to the streets. The surroundings of the Vicente Aleixandre public school were meticulously decorated with the colors of the national flag, as revealed by Paco, president of the neighborhood associations. “It has been two days of intense activity. We would place a flag here and the wind would carry it away there… But it has been an exciting project,” he revealed. Everyone united—neighbors, shopkeepers, children, and the elderly—flooded the streets sprinkled with Spanish flags, some with almost twenty years of history.
“This flag is from when your father came, very grateful,” said one of the fortunate people who could speak with King Felipe upon his arrival at the Vicente Aleixandre school. He was referring to the visit of 2007 by the emeritus kings, which today is surpassed by this day of popular acclaim. The monarch was by far the most cheered and demanded: the Ceutíes did not let themselves be impressed by his imposing authority and pressed him relentlessly. He responded, as always, with smiles, greetings, selfies, and conversations.
On this occasion, it was Queen Letizia who was the fastest to greet the Ceutíes waiting in the vicinity of the C.E.I.P. Vicente Aleixandre, a crowd of mothers and grandmothers with children who asked for photos and, above all, spoke to her. The queen’s wish to get as close as possible to those who had waited for her for so long gave rise to one of the day’s anecdotes: she approached the fence adorned with flags so closely that she did not notice one of the metal supports and took a good tumble. She had to pause for a few seconds and hurt her foot (let us recall that she suffers from a chronic condition, metatarsalgia), but she immediately resumed the greetings.
El rey Felipe, con el bastón de mando de Ceuta, y la reina Letizia.
Inside the school, finally, practically all the students were waiting for them, summoned unusually for an afternoon session. In the morning, like the rest of the city’s schools, they finished classes at 11 a.m. to be able to go with their families to Plaza de África, where the kings Felipe and Letizia arrived to begin their schedule at the Palace of the Assembly. Patricia Barragán, principal of C.E.I.P. Vicente Aleixandre, revealed that upon learning that the school had been chosen for the royal visit, “there were applause and cheers of joy.”
The visit inside the school was brief, perhaps because part of their time was spent on the previous greeting, but Barragán was able to show the kings Felipe and Letizia the works that the children had done for the Day of the Hispanidad, relating precisely to the feeling of being Spanish. Next, the monarchs moved quickly to the Rosales neighborhood, where the Sidi Embarek Muslim cemetery — the oldest in Europe — is located, to meet a representation of the four religious confessions living in Ceuta: Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu.
La reina Letizia se sentó con los niños en el colegio público Vicente Aleixandre de Ceuta.
There was held a small ecumenical act in memory of the 90 people, including a woman and a child, who died at sea on July 30 and 31, when more than 70,000 people entered Ceuta swimming. It was, simply, a crowd gathered at the foot of the graves where Kings Felipe and Letizia listened to the religious representatives and exchanged a few words about what happened. The next stop, at Parador La Muralla, again facilitated a more direct encounter between the monarchs and Ceuta’s civil society.
Between 300 and 400 people waited for Kings Felipe and Letizia inside the Parador to attend the reception and the king’s awaited speech. Outside, of course, there were many more. “This is what we needed, we’re going through a very hard time,” said one neighbor who approached the Parador. “Their visit is a strong energy boost to hold onto, to think that everything will turn out well. We felt abandoned. Let us hope that from today there will be a before and after. Our Kings have come, and it has been seen that Ceuta is one hundred percent Spanish,” they claimed. In his speech, the king responded to this neighbor who voiced the feelings of the great majority of Ceuta’s residents.
Uno de los incontables selfies para los que posó la reina Letizia en Ceuta.
“We are, the Queen and I, two more of the many millions of Spaniards who still have the striking images of what you experienced on July 30 and 31 engraved in our retinas,” said King Felipe. “That violation of our border by a huge crowd of people was a shock for everyone, especially for you, and it continues to have a huge impact — social, political, economic, and psychological — in your lives, in the city and, to a large extent, in all of Spain, despite most of those who entered having returned and many others having been placed in reception centers. Since that day, I assure you that not a single day has passed without thinking of the Ceutíes in our thoughts. Also of the Melillans.”
King Felipe also wanted to refer to Morocco: “The Kingdom of Spain — and the EU itself — has the will and the responsibility to maintain a good neighborly relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco; for the benefit and progress on both sides of the border. This relationship must be based and sustained always on mutual trust and respect, with the objective of promoting regional stability, peace and security. This is desirable and I believe it is necessary. Making it possible requires good faith from both sides. Spain, for its part, has the firm intention to continue doing everything in its power to ensure that, but always starting from the principles I have just mentioned.”
Los reyes Felipe y Letizia, en el cementerio musulmán de Ceuta.
“Ceuta is Spain and Ceuta is Europe. Therefore, its border — like Melilla’s — is the border of the Union. Any threat it suffers is a threat to the whole EU. That fundamental principle, according to which the Union’s external border is a common responsibility, is widely shared by the member countries, as I had the opportunity to discuss a few days ago with the presidents of France and Finland,” said the King. And he added: “Those who entered irregularly into our country must, as a rule of principle, return to their place of origin as soon as possible and through the legally established channels. While they are among us they must be treated with dignity and humanity, and with all the guarantees provided by our laws.”
“Finally I want to convey to you, as head of State, as your King, a message of serenity and confidence despite the uncertainty. Ceuta faces a difficult challenge, but we will not leave you alone or defenseless. In any case, Ceuta has a future of hope and prosperity: it depends, first, on you, yes, but it depends above all on the entire State and on all of Spanish society, and you can count on both. We will not let this long-standing and exemplary reality of coexistence that Ceuta is sink. I repeat: you are not alone, and you will not be alone. Do not, for a moment, stop believing in the future of your city, of our city. You have the firm support of the rest of the Spanish people, of all citizens, the guarantee of the powers and institutions of the State, and the full, permanent and unequivocal commitment of the Crown.
