Florentino Pérez from Ceuta: "We Express All Our Support and Affection, Our Visit Has Been Weeks in the Making"

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez attended an event today at the City Hall of the African enclave of Ceuta, part of a visit aimed at expressing solidarity with the Spanish territory. The "Los Blancos" boss clarified that his visit today "is not connected to any recent incidents."

On Tuesday, before Real's La Liga match against Elche, Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr., and Ibrahima Konaté covered the inscription on their jerseys that read "We are all Caballas" (editor's note: "Caballas" is a nickname for the residents of Ceuta). The shirts were created to show support for them. The actions of these three players sparked discussions and contrasted with the behavior of the other players.

To explain his behavior, Mbappé stated on Wednesday that he did not want to prioritize the suffering of one group of people over that of other disadvantaged citizens. When questioned by Reuters, Real Madrid explained that they had no issue with this behavior and respected their players' personal choices and their right to make independent decisions. However, they noted that the team had expressed support for Ceuta a week before their Champions League match against Inter Milan.

Pérez arrived on the African coast alongside the club's honorary president, José Martínez Pirri, who hails from Ceuta. The two were greeted in front of the municipality by the region's president, Juan Jesús Vivas.

"I want to emphasize, so there are no doubts, that today's event has been prepared for several weeks in conjunction with the President of Ceuta, and is not related to any recent events," Pérez stated at City Hall.

"I also take this opportunity to express all our support, all our affection, and solidarity in these extremely difficult times to all residents of Ceuta. Our wish is for normalcy to be restored in Ceuta as soon as possible," added the Real Madrid president.

In July, over 70,000 irregular crossings into Ceuta from Morocco were registered, leading to unrest in the territory. Real Madrid's show of solidarity is one of many gestures observed across Spain following the mass border crossings between Morocco and the Spanish African region.