The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, met this Monday with King Felipe VI, after publicly stating that there are "sufficient arguments and reasons" for the head of State to travel to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, a visit he has not made since his proclamation in 2014.
Sources from Moncloa cited by Europa Press have explained that the meeting, held on the afternoon of this Monday, is part of the regular briefings that both leaders maintain several times a month. However, they did not detail the topics discussed in the conversation. "The briefing was scheduled before summer and has proceeded with the usual normality," the same sources indicated.
The meeting took place a few hours after Sánchez's statements earlier this morning, in which he emphasized that there are "sufficient arguments and reasons for the head of State to finally visit Ceuta and Melilla." In that line, the president reiterated that "that visit will happen" when the appropriate conditions are met to carry it out.
Sánchez added that "that is what I have shared with the head of State and that is what will be done," without clarifying whether Felipe VI has directly expressed his intention to travel to the two cities, as the president of Ceuta, Juan Vivas, stated after his meeting with the monarch on August 6.
When asked about when that trip might take place, the head of the Executive insisted that it will be "when the conditions are right for it," emphasizing that "the visit will happen." He also pointed out that, for now, it is up to the Government and the Royal House to coordinate all the details, and he rejected that the Executive has raised objections to the trip taking place.
Background of the last briefing between Sánchez and Felipe VI
The previous public meeting between them was held on July 29 at the Palace of Almudaina, in Palma, on the occasion of the traditional summer briefing prior to the summer break that the King holds each year with the President of the Government.
That briefing in Mallorca is the only one that is officially communicated, although Felipe VI and Sánchez maintain other contacts with some regularity in which they analyze different matters of national relevance.
The dispatches between the monarch and the head of the Executive do not follow a rigid schedule, but they are held frequently, especially in situations that are considered of special institutional or political importance.