Óscar Puente dissociates Sánchez's message about Ceuta from Felipe VI: "It is a reproach to those who wanted to use the King"

Pedro Sánchez's words about a possible visit of Felipe VI to Ceuta have opened a new political debate. The President of the Government stated this Monday that there are "sufficient arguments and reasons" for the King to visit both Ceuta and Melilla and assured that this visit "will happen" when the appropriate circumstances arise.

Óscar Puente has come out to address interpretations suggesting that Sánchez might have been reproaching the head of state. The Minister of Transport has denied that the president's words constitute a criticism of the monarch and has placed the message on another recipient: those who, in his opinion, are trying to use the figure of Felipe VI in the midst of the migration crisis.

"What is enclosed is a reproach to those who have wanted to use the figure of the King for a political debate," Puente explained during an interview on Malas lenguas, on La 2. The minister thus referred to those who argue that, had they been in government, they would have sent the monarch to Ceuta during the crisis.

Sánchez defends the King visiting Ceuta

The origin of the controversy lies in the statements made by Sánchez during his interview on Hoy por Hoy, where he was asked about the absence of Felipe VI in Ceuta and Melilla since his accession to the throne in 2014.

The president considered that there are reasons for the head of state to travel to both autonomous cities and assured that the Government will work to make that trip possible. Sánchez also recalled that, during his years as president, he has visited Ceuta and Melilla on several occasions.

Puente has defended, however, that the situation experienced in Ceuta during the migration crisis did not necessitate a displacement of the monarch. "From the Government, we do not believe that the situation in Ceuta warrants a visit by the King," he maintained.

The minister has also focused on the historical precedent. According to his data, only three presidents of the Government have made institutional visits to Ceuta since the beginning of democracy: Adolfo Suárez, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and Pedro Sánchez. The latter, he highlighted, has visited the city on five occasions.

Regarding Felipe VI, Puente recalled that the monarch has only visited Ceuta on one occasion, in 2007, during Zapatero's government. The minister added that former presidents José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy went to the city during electoral campaigns, but not on institutional visits.

Puente warns of the risk of politicizing the Crown

The minister admitted that he does not know if Sánchez's words expressly contained a reproach, but he assured that, if it existed, it would not be directed against Felipe VI. "I am not suspected of not reproaching the Royal Household if I believe it should be done," said Puente, before insisting that the recipient would be those who intend to turn the King's presence in Ceuta into an argument for political confrontation.

In his opinion, there is always the risk that the figure of the head of state will be politicized in this type of situation. However, he believes that the Royal Household knows how to "correctly" distinguish the institutional role that corresponds to the monarch.

In this way, the Government tries to downplay the interpretation of Sánchez's words as a confrontation with Felipe VI and places the controversy in the realm of the political use of the Crown during a migratory crisis that continues to generate tension in Ceuta.