King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will visit Spain's diplomatically sensitive enclave of Ceuta on October 13 as a migration crisis engulfs the north African territory claimed by Morocco, the palace announced on Thursday.
Their trip to Ceuta, and then to Spain's other north African enclave of Melilla on October 14, will mark the first royal visit since King Juan Carlos in November 2007, which sparked a diplomatic crisis with Morocco.
Ceuta has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis since more than 70,000 migrants streamed into the small city of around 80,000 inhabitants in an unprecedented surge on July 30-31 that left scores dead.
Most of the migrants returned in the following hours, but thousands have remained for weeks in often dire conditions, sleeping rough in the streets or on the beach.
The stagnant crisis has angered locals who accuse the government of abandoning them, leading to regular protests and tensions with the migrants who roam the streets.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last month urged Felipe to visit Ceuta in rare public comments on royal matters, saying the city needed to feel "supported by the state more than ever".
The palace said the visit to Ceuta and Melilla, also claimed by Morocco, "has been agreed by the government and the royal household".
Ceuta's conservative leader Juan Jesus Vivas, who is at loggerheads with the leftist central government over its handling of the crisis, welcomed the news of a "very important" visit, which will come after Spain's October 12 national day.
Ceuta and Melilla are the European Union's only land borders with Africa, and the migrant crisis sparked infighting among the bloc as a group led by Italy lambasted Spain for allowing the surge to happen.
On Tuesday, Felipe told a gala dinner in Madrid attended by visiting French President Emmanuel Macron that the EU must be "more efficient and show more solidarity in the protection of the union's external border".
The Ceuta crisis has eroded Socialist premier Sanchez's standing before a general election next year, with the right-wing opposition accusing him of subservience to Rabat.
The government insists it must respect international law by assessing whether the migrants are entitled to asylum, while hundreds of unaccompanied children cannot be summarily deported.
The royal visit also comes at a particularly sensitive time for Spain's historically delicate relations with Morocco as rumours swirl over the potential role Rabat played in the rush.
The Spanish right has accused Morocco of orchestrating it for political motives, which Rabat has denied. Sanchez has said no "solid proof" exists to back up that theory.
Sanchez has striven to improve ties with Morocco during his eight years in office, notably by recognising Rabat's autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara territory in 2022.