King Felipe's visit to Ceuta comes a day after the king presided over Spain’s traditional National Day military parade in central Madrid. (EPA Images pic)CEUTA: Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia make a diplomatically sensitive visit to Ceuta on Tuesday in support of a city mired in crisis since July's migrant rush from Morocco.

Their trip will mark the first royal visit since 2007 when a diplomatic crisis erupted with neighbouring Morocco, which claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Spain's other North African territory of Melilla.

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.