The president of the autonomous city of Ceuta, Juan Vivas, has described as "very important" for the locality and "for Spain" as a whole the visit that the Kings of Spain will make next October 13, and has highlighted the "involvement" that, in his opinion, Felipe VI is demonstrating with the autonomous city.
Vivas conveyed these considerations during the press conference after the meeting he held this Thursday with the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno (PP), in the Palacio de San Telmo in Seville, after it was confirmed that Kings Felipe VI and Letizia will visit the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla on October 13 and 14.
The king called him by phone to announce the trip
The president of Ceuta has stated that the visit of the Kings "will undoubtedly demonstrate the support of the Head of State, the support of our king, for the cause of Ceuta, which is the cause of Spain," and has defended that Felipe VI "is treating Ceuta very considerately, very involved."
As he explained, the monarch himself "called him" this Thursday morning to announce the visit, and added that he believes "it is the fifth time" that the King has called him in this process, in reference to the crisis the city has been experiencing since the entry of tens of thousands of people at the end of last July.
"I do not believe that there is any State authority more interested, more involved with Ceuta than His Majesty the King," said Juan Vivas, who also recalled that he had "the opportunity to have personal contact with him a few days after the invasion occurred." From there, he insisted that the announced visit of Felipe VI and Letizia "is the confirmation that the Head of State, that Spain as a whole, which the King represents, is with Ceuta and, being with Ceuta, is with Spain."
Support for the King's statements on the situation in Ceuta
Vivas also took the opportunity to "positively value" the statements made by the King on the occasion of the visit to Spain by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in which, he said, "it was unequivocally clear what the position of the Head of State was regarding what we are suffering and have suffered in our city."
The president of Ceuta added that he believes the King has been "absolutely clear in all his statements regarding what has happened in Ceuta," where, he said, he will be received "with the affection, loyalty, and admiration he deserves."
No assessment of Pedro Sánchez's absence
Asked about the fact that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will not accompany the Kings on their visit to Ceuta, Vivas replied that "the President of the Government's agenda is decided by him," and avoided giving an opinion on whether or not he accompanies the King. "It is a decision of the President of the Government," he concluded.
Institutional loyalty to the new Government delegate
The President of the Autonomous City also referred to the recent appointment, approved this week in the Council of Ministers, of the new Government delegate in Ceuta, David de la Encina, who replaces the resigned Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano.
Vivas assured that, "every time there is a change in the Government Delegation, the one who arrives, like the previous one, always finds absolute institutional loyalty from the city government," something that, he stressed, "cannot be otherwise." In this regard, he added that Ceuta has "a range of vulnerability" that, "apart" from what "the code of good practices in the public and institutional sphere" establishes, advises strengthening "collaboration and loyalty" relations.
"Therefore, the new Government delegate will find absolute loyalty from the city government," he affirmed, before emphasizing that David de la Encina arrives at the position "at a very delicate moment" and "historic due to the difficulty we are experiencing in Ceuta." In that context, he expressed his wish that the Government delegate use "all his capacities, all his efforts, to make possible the return to normality" in the autonomous city, although he admitted that this "does not depend on him."
"But, at least, that in what depends on him, he applies himself to achieve the return to normality" of Ceuta and "the return of all the people who arrived massively and illegally on the fateful days 30 and 31" of July, he indicated. "And, from there, to work together to lay the foundations for a future of stability, prosperity for Ceuta and well-being for the people of Ceuta," concluded Juan Vivas.