King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited Finland this week to strengthen economic and security ties with one of NATO’s newest members.

During the state visit, Their Majesties met with local Spaniards, business leaders and government officials. Finland officially joined NATO in 2023 amid Russian expansionist threats.

Speaking during a state dinner, King Felipe said, “We share a security vision. Again in the history of Europe, peace has stopped being an acquired good to become something that requires daily effort, concentration and compromise.”

The Spanish royal visit to Finland was the first in decades and comes ahead of major commitments by King Felipe and Queen Letizia back home.

On Monday, they will preside over the National Day parade and festivities. And the next day, they will begin visits to Spain’s North African autonomous communities of Ceuta and Melilla.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron for a state visit this week with a ceremony at the Madrid Royal Palace and then a formal dinner.

His Majesty also met with Macron at his office at Zarzuela Palace, and the King and Queen attended a reception offered by the Macrons at the French Embassy.

The French president and his wife did not stay at the Royal Palace of El Pardo, which is offered to visiting heads of state for state visits.

King Felipe this week used an unrelated speech to discuss the migrant crisis in Ceuta, where thousands of people from Morocco crossed into the Spanish enclave.

His Majesty spoke at the National School of Civil Protection, an arm of the Interior Ministry. And Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has been under fire for his response to Ceuta, was on hand.

He described the crisis in Ceuta as a situation of “extreme complexity.” He highlighted the work of civil servants who have responded.

King Felipe is set to visit Ceuta in the near future. Royal visits to the Spanish enclave are extremely sensitive because of Morocco’s claims.

King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Queen Sofia all attended this week’s funeral for the late King Harald of Norway in Oslo.

Not only did the Spanish royals travel to honor the late leader, but King Felipe also flew his standard at half-mast at the Royal Palace in Madrid and then he elevated it to honor Noway’s new head-of-state, King Haakon.

Queen Sofia had a special connection to the late King Harald. She was, as princess of Greece and Denmark, considered a potential suitor for him.

King Felipe held a meeting at Zarzuela Palace this week with top defense officials on the migrant crisis in Ceuta, a way for the Crown to maintain its focus on the issue as criticism falls on the government’s response.

The meeting included Defense Minister Margarita Robles, considered a hawk within Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration on the subject.

The King is supposed to visit Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, in the near future, but the exact date of the trip remains unknown.

Still, the Royal Household has been working to make sure how His Majesty views the issue. During a day on nationwide protests reaffirming Spanish sovereignty against claims from Morocco, Zarzuela Palace posted a picture of a Ceuta flag in one its audience rooms.

Even though Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa have been Spanish cities for hundreds of years, Morocco claims them as its own. Ceuta is particularly important, located across from Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea.

Leonor, the Princess of Asturias, completed her first day of classes Monday at Carlos III University in Madrid after years of deferring studies for military training. The heir to the Spanish throne will study political science.

The Royal Household has told media outlets that Her Royal Highness will be treated like any other student. Of course, plain clothed bodyguards will be nearby, and she had to contend with cameras during her first day. She will also juggle classes with royal engagements when possible.

Spanish media outlets and commentators expressed shock Monday — and royalists anger — after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appeared to attack King Felipe over the Ceuta migrant crisis.

Government opponents have been questioning the prime minister’s response to thousands of migrants flooding into Ceuta, one of Spain’s enclaves in North Africa.

During an interview, Sánchez pointed to the King not having visited Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish city in North Africa. The comments were puzzling because royal visits to the enclaves are sensitive matters. They anger Morocco’s king and that’s something the prime minister is trying not to do as a way of securing collaboration in preventing more crossings.

Also, royal visits are coordinated with the government, and there have been questions as to whether it’s the Royal Household or Sánchez who has blocked or delayed a trip by King Felipe.

The Spanish prime minister and the King met for three hours after the interview aired, media outlets reported, in what was said to be a routine gathering.

The Spanish Royal Household did not post pictures of this week’s meeting between King Felipe and Sánchez. His Majesty earlier this summer met with Ceuta’s president at Marivent Palace, also in Mallorca, in an effort to show his concern about the migrant crisis.

Members of the Spanish Royal Family have traditionally spent some time in Mallorca during the summer. They stay at Marivent Palace and conduct protocolary business at Almudaina.

King Felipe met late last week with Juan Jesús Vivas Lara, president of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, which saw thousands of Moroccan migrants break into the North African enclave in recent weeks.

Even though many of them have gone back, the situation remains a political crisis in Spain. King Felipe has spoken about the gravity of the situation.

The King met with Ceuta’s president at Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca. The King would like to visit Ceuta, but royal visits there are politically sensitive because Morocco claims the city, which — like Melilla — have been part of Spain for hundreds of years.

King Felipe over the weekend issued a statement expressing “worry and indignation” after 50,000 migrants from Morocco crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

Border tensions between Moroccan and Spanish territories in North African are nothing new, but the flood of people alarmed Spaniards and European allies. The migrants eventually returned to Morocco.

His Majesty, who has spoken about immigration issues before, said the state should prevent incidents like these from happening again and mourned the loss of life.

King Felipe has been working from Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, where the Spanish royals spend at least part of the summer. He stays at Marivent Palace in the outskirts of Palma and holds meetings at Almudaina Palace downtown.

Morocco claims the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in North Africa and the issue contributes to tensions between both nations.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia have been working to address wildfires that have broken out around Spain, including around the Madrid capital.

Their Majesties this weekend met with emergency workers and visited a Madrid area shelter that was housing people displaced by the blazes.

King Felipe also met with emergency workers in the Balearic Islands last week during a stay in Mallorca, where the Royal Family usually spends time during the summer.

Media outlets reported that King Juan Carlos — who has been living abroad — was in Mallorca in recent days and dined with Queen Sofia and their daughters, Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina, at Marivent Palace. It was described as a surprise development.