Back to the king's visit to Ceuta: the Government probed a call from Felipe VI to Mohamed VI and Vivas wants him to travel on September 2.

According to the parliamentary information available in this search, there is currently no specific initiative in the General Courts in process that directly regulates or modifies the coordination of the King's official visits to autonomous territories or autonomous cities such as Ceuta and Melilla. Consequently, there is no specific “parliamentary status” (for example, amendments, committee, report, etc.) associated with a bill or draft law that seeks to require special authorization or coordination with these cities for such visits.

The query conducted in institutional databases prioritized state and regional legislative initiatives that might be linked to Ceuta and Melilla or to issues of institutional coordination with the State. Among the results, numerous regulations and government agreements related to Ceuta are found (for example, decrees and resolutions of the Autonomous City, sectoral agreements between the State and communities, regulations in the fields of health, education, equality, urban planning, or housing), but none of them address the organization or authorization of the Head of State's visits.

In the strictly parliamentary area, the search returns as the main legislative initiative a bill referred by the Senate to the Congress on administrative and procedural measures regarding territorial planning, urbanism, and housing (identifier 124/000020). This initiative is being processed in the Housing and Urban Agenda Committee of the Congress, with the deadline for amendments extended until September 2, 2026. However, its content focuses on legal certainty in urban planning and access to housing, without relation to the coordination of the King's visits or the institutional status of Ceuta or Melilla.

Additionally, various recent state regulations (royal decree-laws, draft and preliminary bills, sectoral royal decrees) and resolutions published in the Official State Gazette appear, as well as provisions and agreements in the regional gazettes and the Autonomous City of Ceuta. Many of these mention Ceuta and Melilla for purposes of financing, fund distribution, sectoral coordination, or consultation with the autonomous cities (for example, in matters of equality, health, or social aid), but always from a sectoral perspective; none are identified as initiatives aimed at organizing the Head of State's agenda or subjecting the King's official visits to a special regime of parliamentary or regional authorization.

From all this, it can be deduced that, in the strictly parliamentary sphere, there is currently no active file whose object is the coordination of the King's official visits to Ceuta, Melilla, or other territories, nor is there a legislative reform underway that intends to introduce such a requirement. What does exist is a set of territorial organization, financing, and State-community (and autonomous cities) cooperation regulations in multiple material areas, which refer to Ceuta and Melilla as part of the autonomous system and the State's territorial administration, but without direct linkage to the monarch's agenda or travels.

In practical terms, this means that the current situation is governed by the general framework of distribution of functions between the Crown and the Government, without the Parliament currently processing a specific regulatory change on the matter you raise. Any possible modification of that scheme — for example, to introduce a formal obligation of coordination with the assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla in official visits — would require the presentation and admission for processing of a new initiative (bill, legal reform, etc.), which at present is not underway.

If you are interested, the search could be refined towards other types of non-legislative initiatives (non-bill proposals, motions, oral or written questions) in which this issue has been politically debated, but, based on the analyzed results, there is no open legislative process whose “parliamentary status” can be pointed to as regulating the coordination of the King's official visits to Ceuta.

The president of the Autonomous City of Ceuta is the highest political authority of the city and the central figure of its institutional system. His statute, powers, and functions are mainly regulated in the Organic Law 1/1995, of March 13, Statute of Autonomy of Ceuta, in the title dedicated to self-government institutions, specifically in the provisions regulating the Assembly of Ceuta, the President, and the Government Council.

The Statute establishes that the institutional bodies of the city are the Assembly of Ceuta, the President, and the Government Council. Within this framework, the statutory provision dedicated to the President states that "he presides over the Assembly, the Government Council, whose activity he directs and coordinates, and holds the supreme representation of the City", and that he will be elected by the Assembly from among its members and appointed by the King. Additionally, the President also holds the position of Mayor.

1. Political and government leadership

• The President directs and coordinates the activity of the Government Council, which is the collegiate body that holds the executive and administrative functions of the city of Ceuta, according to the Statute.
• In this capacity, he promotes the direction of the city's policy and the execution of the powers that the Statute assigns to the Autonomous City, without prejudice to the functions reserved to the Assembly.
• He may temporarily delegate his own executive functions to some members of the Government Council, which reinforces his role as the coordination center of the executive.
• Being also Mayor, he assumes the headship of the municipal administration, under the terms resulting from the Statute itself and the basic local regime legislation that applies subsidiarily.

2. Institutional representation

• The Statute grants the President the “supreme representation of the City”, that is, the highest institutional representation of the City of Ceuta before the State, other public administrations, and public or private entities.
• This representation is projected both in the political sphere (relations with the National Government and other autonomous communities and cities) and in the legal and protocol sphere.

3. Normative and organizational powers

• The President is the head of the Government Council, which may develop by regulation the rules approved by the Assembly when expressly authorized, and in any case develops the rules on organization and functioning of the city's administrative services.
• Organizationally, the President freely appoints and dismisses the Councilors, configuring the structure of the Government Council and, through this, the political and administrative organization of the Ceuta executive.
• He may report to the Assembly on such appointments and dismissals, under statutory terms, linking his organizational powers with political responsibility before the Chamber.

4. Relations with the Assembly and political control

• The President presides over the Assembly of Ceuta, integrating the Board as its President and directing plenary sessions, according to the Assembly's own Rules of Procedure.
• The Statute foresees that the President, after deliberation of the Government Council, may present to the Assembly a vote of confidence on his program or on a declaration of general policy. Confidence is understood to be granted by a simple majority.
• If the Assembly denies confidence, the President must resign, and a new election of President is carried out according to the statutory procedure.
• The Assembly may in turn demand the President's responsibility through a motion of censure, which must include an alternative candidate for the Presidency and be approved by an absolute majority, in connection with the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime.
• The approval of a motion of censure implies the dismissal of the President and the investiture of the alternative candidate, who is then appointed President of the City.

5. Other powers and status of the office

• The Statute establishes that the Government Council ceases after the elections to the Assembly, by resignation, incapacity or death of its President, by approved motion of censure, or by denial of confidence. However, the outgoing Council continues in office until the new Council takes office.
• The President is elected by the Assembly from among its members who lead electoral lists with seats, and is appointed by the King, which underscores his position as the highest political authority in the City within the constitutional framework.
• In addition to the express functions, the President assumes those attributed by the Statute itself, applicable state legislation, and the Assembly's rules on organization and functioning of the City's services.

The 1978 Spanish Constitution does not contain a specific provision that regulates “the king's official visits within the national territory” as an autonomous category. That is, there is no article that expressly states what formal requirements must be met for the monarch to visit an autonomous community, a city, or an institution. However, such visits fall within the general framework of the King's functions and, above all, within the regime of political responsibility and countersignature established in the Constitution. From there, the basic legal requirements are derived.

1. General constitutional framework of the King

The Constitution configures the King as:

• Head of State, symbol of its unity and permanence (art. 56.1 CE).
• Holder of functions of representation of the State, both abroad and domestically, and as “arbiter and moderator” of the regular functioning of institutions (art. 56.1 CE).

Official visits throughout the national territory (to autonomous communities, institutions, commemorative events, etc.) are framed within these representative and symbolic functions, not within a power of independent political decision.

2. Key requirement: governmental countersignature

The central legal element is not the “visit” itself, but the regime of King's irresponsibility and the need for countersignature:

• Article 56.3 CE establishes that the person of the King is inviolable and not subject to responsibility.
• Article 64 CE provides that all acts of the King shall be countersigned by the President of the Government or, where appropriate, by the competent ministers, who assume political responsibility for those acts.

Although the Constitution does not list official visits as specific “acts,” in practice the King's official agenda (including his visits within Spain) is part of the Head of State's actions subject to countersignature. This implies:

• The planning of an official visit is carried out in coordination with the Government, which assumes political responsibility.
• The King does not act freely in his own political key: his presence, speeches, and gestures during these visits are aligned with the line set by the Government and the constitutional framework.

3. Respect for territorial order and competencies

Another relevant element comes from the State's territorial structure:

• Article 2 CE recognizes the autonomy of nationalities and regions.
• Title VIII organizes the competencies of the State and the autonomous communities.

The King's official visits within Spain must respect this territorial model. The Constitution does not require an autonomous “permit,” but in practice:

• They are coordinated with autonomous and local authorities, considering their competencies and institutional protocol.
• The King's presence does not alter or replace the competencies of those administrations; his function is representative, not executive.

4. Material limit: political neutrality

Although not explicitly stated in a single article with that expression, the Constitution as a whole implies that the King must maintain political neutrality. From this, material limits to his visits are derived:

• He cannot participate in acts that imply partisan political bias or interference in electoral processes.
• His public interventions during these visits must be compatible with his role as a symbol of unity and not as a partisan political actor.

These limits are not so much “formal prior requirements” as conditions of exercise of the function, which guide how his visits should be designed and carried out.

5. Other norms and constitutional practice

Besides the Constitution, the practical regulation of official visits is complemented by:

• Administrative and protocol law norms (for example, royal decrees on precedence and honors).
• The so-called constitutional practice, that is, the way in which, constantly and acceptedly, these visits are organized in coordination between the Royal Household, the Government, and territorial authorities.

In summary, the Constitution does not set a list of specific formal requirements for the King to officially visit a part of the territory, but it does establish the essential legal framework: inviolability and irresponsibility of the monarch, need for governmental countersignature, respect for the territorial distribution of power, and political neutrality. On this basis, through lower norms and institutional practice, the concrete organization of official visits within Spain is articulated.