Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territories in Africa and, along with

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, one of only a few that are permanently inhabited by a civilian population. It was a regular municipality belonging to the

province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of conti ...

prior to the passing of its

Statute of Autonomy Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy ( es, Estatuto de Autonomía, ca, Estatut d'Autonomia, gl, Estatuto de Autonomía, ast, Estatutu d'Autonomía, eu, Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, u ...

in March 1995, henceforth becoming an autonomous city. Ceuta, like Melilla and the Canary Islands, was classified as a free port before Spain joined the European Union. Its population consists mainly of Christians and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. There is also a small minority of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus, the latter of whom originate from current-day Pakistan. Spanish is the only official language, but Darija Arabic is quite prominent as well.

Names

The name Abyla has been said to have been a Punic name ("Lofty Mountain" or "Mountain of God") for

Jebel Musa Jabal, Jabel, Jebel or Jibal may refer to: People * Jabal (name), a male Arabic given name * Jabal (Bible), mentioned in the Hebrew Bible Places In Arabic, ''jabal'' or ''jebel'' (spelling variants of the same word) means 'mountain'. * Dzhebel, ...

, the southern Pillar of Hercules. The name of the mountain was in fact ''Habenna'' ( xpu, 𐤀𐤁𐤍 , , "Stone" or "

Stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

") or ''ʾAbin-ḥīq'' (, , "Rock of the Bay"), in reference to the nearby Bay of Benzú.. The name was hellenized variously as ''Ápini'' ( grc-gre, Ἄπινι), ''Abýla'' (), ''Abýlē'' (), ''Ablýx'' (), and ''Abílē Stḗlē'' (, "Pillar of Abyla") and in Latin as ' ("Mount Abyla") or ' ("the Pillar of Abyla"). The settlement below Jebel Musa was later renamed for the seven hills around the site, collectively referred to as the "Seven Brothers" ( grc-gre, Ἑπτάδελφοι, Heptádelphoi; la, Septem Fratres). In particular, the Roman stronghold at the site took the name "Fort at the Seven Brothers" (). This was gradually shortened to Septem ( ''Sépton'') or, occasionally, Septum or Septa. These clipped forms continued as

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

''Sebta'' and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

''Sabtan'' or ''Sabtah'' (), which themselves became in Portuguese () and Spanish ().

History

Ancient

Controlling access between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

is an important military and commercial chokepoint. The Phoenicians realized the extremely narrow isthmus joining the

Peninsula of Almina The Península de Almina is a peninsula making up much of the eastern part of the Spanish city of Ceuta in Africa. It is dominated by the peak of Monte Hacho. The peninsula contains Ceuta's easternmost point, Punta Almina,Greek geographers record it by variations of ''Abyla'', the ancient name of nearby

. Beside Calpe, the other Pillar of Hercules now known as the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

, the Phoenicians established Kart at what is now San Roque, Spain. Other good anchorages nearby became Phoenician and then Carthaginian ports at what are now Tangiers and Cádiz. After Carthage's destruction in the

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and i ...

, most of northwest Africa was left to the Roman client states of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

andaround Abyla

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

. Punic culture continued to thrive in what the Romans knew as "Septem". After the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC,

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

and his heirs began annexing north Africa directly as Roman provinces but, as late as Augustus, most of Septem's

residents continued to speak and write in Punic.

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

assassinated the Mauretanian king Ptolemy in AD40 and seized his kingdom, which

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

organized in AD 42, placing Septem in the province of Tingitana and raising it to the level of a colony. It subsequently was

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

and thrived into the late 3rd century, trading heavily with Roman Spain and becoming well known for its salted fish. Roads connected it overland with Tingis (Tangiers) and Volubilis. Under in the late 4th century, Septem still had 10,000 inhabitants, nearly all

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

speaking African Romance, a local dialect of Latin.

Medieval

Vandals, probably invited by Count Boniface as protection against the

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

, crossed the strait near Tingis around 425 and swiftly overran Roman North Africa. Their king Gaiseric focused his attention on the rich lands around Carthage; although the Romans eventually accepted his conquests and he continued to raid them anyway, he soon lost control of Tingis and Septem in a series of Berber revolts. When Justinian decided to reconquer the Vandal lands, his victorious general Belisarius continued along the coast, making Septem a westernmost outpost of the Byzantine Empire around 533. Unlike the former ancient Roman administration, however, Eastern Rome did not push far into hinterland and made the more defensible Septem their regional capital in place of Tingis. Epidemics, less capable successors and overstretched supply lines forced a retrenchment and left Septem isolated. It is likely that its count (') was obliged to pay homage to the Visigoth Kingdom in Spain in the early 7th century. There are no reliable contemporary accounts of the end of the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb around 710. Instead, the rapid Muslim conquest of Spain produced

romances Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

concerning Count Julian of Septem and his betrayal of Christendom in revenge for the dishonor that befell his daughter at King Roderick's court. Allegedly with Julian's encouragement and instructions, the Berber convert and freedman Tariq ibn Ziyad took his garrison from Tangiers across the strait and overran the Spanish so swiftly that both he and his master Musa bin Nusayr fell afoul of a jealous caliph, who stripped them of their wealth and titles. After the death of Julian, sometimes also described as a king of the Ghomara Berbers, Berber converts to Islam took direct control of what they called Sebta. It was then destroyed during their great revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate around 740. Sebta subsequently remained a small village of Muslims and Christians surrounded by ruins until its resettlement in the 9th century by Mâjakas, chief of the Majkasa Berber tribe, who started the short-lived

Banu Isam The Banu Isam were a Berber Muslim dynasty that ruled Ceuta, present-day Spain, for four generations. The town had been destroyed in a rebellion, and was lying waste; sometime in the middle of the 9th century, Mâjakas, chief of the Berber Majkasa ...

dynasty.. His great-grandson briefly allied his tribe with the Idrisids, but Banu Isam rule ended in 931 when he abdicated in favor of

Abd ar-Rahman III ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil () or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III (890 - 961), was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 92 ...

, the Umayyad ruler of Córdoba. Chaos ensued with the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031. Following this, Ceuta and Muslim Iberia were controlled by successive North African dynasties. Starting in 1084, the Almoravid Berbers ruled the region until 1147, when the Almohads conquered the land. Apart from

Ibn Hud Abū ’Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Hūd al-Judhamī (Arabic: محمد بن يوسف بن هود, died 1238), commonly known as Ibn Hud, was a taifa emir who controlled much of al-Andalus from 1228 to 1237. He claimed to be a descendant of ...

's rebellion in 1232, they ruled until the Tunisian Hafsids established control. The Hafsids' influence in the west rapidly waned, and Ceuta's inhabitants eventually expelled them in 1249. After this, a period of political instability persisted, under competing interests from the Marinids and

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

as well as autonomous rule under the native Banu al-Azafi. The Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance from

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Portuguese

On the morning of 21 August 1415, King

John I of Portugal John I ( pt, João �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in a succession war with Casti ...

led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as the

Conquest of Ceuta The conquest of Ceuta by the Portuguese on 21 August 1415 marks an important step in the beginning of the Portuguese Empire in Africa. History In 711, shortly after the Arab conquest of North Africa, the city of Ceuta was used as a stagin ...

. The battle was almost anti-climactic, because the 45,000 men who traveled on 200 Portuguese ships caught the defenders of Ceuta off guard and suffered only eight casualties. By nightfall the town was captured. On the morning of 22 August, Ceuta was in Portuguese hands. Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches was asked to hoist what was to become the flag of Ceuta, which is identical to the

flag of Lisbon The Flag of Lisbon, also known as the Flag of Saint Vincent, is the municipal flag of Lisbon, consisting of a gyronny alternating between black and white defaced with the coat of arms of Lisbon in the center. For civil use the flag is flown wit ...

, but in which the coat of arms derived from that of the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

was added to the center; the original Portuguese flag and coat of arms of Ceuta remained unchanged, and the modern-day Ceuta flag features the configuration of the Portuguese shield. John's son

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

distinguished himself in the battle, being wounded during the conquest. The looting of the city proved to be less profitable than expected for John I; he decided to keep the city to pursue further enterprises in the area. From 1415 to 1437,

Pedro de Meneses Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

became the first governor of Ceuta. The Benemerine sultan started the 1419 siege but was defeated by the first governor of Ceuta before reinforcements arrived in the form of

John, Constable of Portugal Infante John, Constable of Portugal ( pt, João, ; 13 January 1400 – 18 October 1442) was a Portuguese '' infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, Constable of Portugal and master of the Portuguese Order of St. James (Santiago). In Portugal, ...

and his brother

who were sent with troops to defend Ceuta. Under King John I's son,

Duarte Duarte may refer to: * Duarte (surname), person's surname (or composed surname) and given name * Duarte, California, United States * Duarte Province, Dominican Republic * Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on th ...

, the colony at Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury. Trans-Saharan trade journeyed instead to Tangier. It was soon realized that without the city of Tangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437, Duarte's brothers

and Fernando, the Saint Prince persuaded him to launch an attack on the Marinid sultanate. The resulting

Battle of Tangier (1437) The Battle of Tangier, sometimes referred to as the Siege of Tangiers and, by the Portuguese, as the Disaster of Tangier ( pt, Desastre de Tânger), refers to the attempt by a Portuguese expeditionary force to seize the Moroccan citadel of Tangie ...

, led by Henry, was a debacle. In the resulting treaty, Henry promised to deliver Ceuta back to the Marinids in return for allowing the Portuguese army to depart unmolested, which he reneged on. Possession of Ceuta would indirectly lead to further Portuguese expansion. The main area of Portuguese expansion, at this time, was the coast of the Maghreb, where there was grain, cattle, sugar, and textiles, as well as fish, hides, wax, and honey. Ceuta had to endure alone for 43 years, until the position of the city was consolidated with the taking of Ksar es-Seghir (1458), Arzila and Tangier (1471) by the Portuguese. The city was recognized as a Portuguese possession by the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479) and by the

Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Emp ...

(1494). In the 1540s the Portuguese began building the Royal Walls of Ceuta as they are today including bastions, a navigable moat and a drawbridge. Some of these bastions are still standing, like the bastions of Coraza Alta, Bandera and Mallorquines. Luís de Camões lived in Ceuta between 1549 and 1551, losing his right eye in battle, which influenced his work of poetry '' Os Lusíadas''.

Iberian Union

In 1578 King Sebastian of Portugal died at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir (known as the Battle of Three Kings) in what is today northern Morocco, without descendants, triggering the

1580 Portuguese succession crisis The Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 ( pt, Crise de sucessão de 1580) came about as a result of the deaths of young King Sebastian I of Portugal in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and his successor and great-uncle Henry I in 1580. As ...

. His granduncle, the elderly Cardinal Henry, succeeded him as King, but Henry also had no descendants, having taken holy orders. When the cardinal-king died two years after Sebastian's death, three grandchildren of King Manuel I of Portugal claimed the throne:

Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza Infanta Catherine of Portugal, Duchess of Braganza by marriage ( pt, Catarina; , 18 January 1540 – 15 November 1614) was a Portuguese ''infanta'' (princess) claimant to the throne following the death of King Henry of Portugal in 1580. Li ...

; António, Prior of Crato; and Philip II of Spain (Uncle of former King Sebastian of Portugal), who would prevail and be crowned King Philip I of Portugal in 1581, uniting the two crowns and overseas empires in which is historically referred as the " Iberian Union".* During the Iberian Union 1580 to 1640, Ceuta attracted many residents of Spanish origin. Ceuta became the only city of the Portuguese Empire that sided with Spain, when Portugal regained its independence in the

Portuguese Restoration War The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...

of 1640.

Spanish

Baluarte de la Coraza Alta y catedral de Ceuta, de noche

On 1 January 1668, King Afonso VI of Portugal recognised the formal allegiance of Ceuta to Spain and ceded Ceuta to King Carlos II of Spain by the Treaty of Lisbon. The city was attacked by Moroccan forces under Moulay Ismail during the Siege of Ceuta (1694–1727). During the longest siege in history, the city underwent changes leading to the loss of its Portuguese character. While most of the military operations took place around the Royal Walls of Ceuta, there were also small-scale penetrations by Spanish forces at various points on the Moroccan coast, and seizure of shipping in the Strait of Gibraltar. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), Spain allowed Britain to occupy Ceuta. Occupation began in 1810, with Ceuta being returned at the conclusion of the Wars. Disagreements regarding the border of Ceuta resulted in the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60), which ended at the Battle of Tetuán. Ceuta Turn of the century

In July 1936, General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

took command of the Spanish Army of Africa and rebelled against the Spanish republican government; his military uprising led to the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Franco transported troops to mainland Spain in an airlift using transport aircraft supplied by Germany and Italy. Ceuta became one of the first casualties of the uprising: General Franco's rebel nationalist forces seized Ceuta, while at the same time the city came under fire from the air and sea forces of the official republican government. The Llano Amarillo monument was erected to honor

, it was inaugurated on 13 July 1940. The tall obelisk has since been abandoned, but the shield symbols of the Falange and Imperial Eagle remain visible. Following the 1947

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, a substantial number of Sindhi Hindus from current-day Pakistan settled in Ceuta, adding up to a small Hindu community that had existed in Ceuta since 1893, connected to Gibraltar's. When Spain recognized the independence of

Spanish Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 1956, Ceuta and the other remained under Spanish rule. Spain considered them integral parts of the Spanish state, but Morocco has disputed this point. Culturally, modern Ceuta is part of the Spanish region of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

. It was attached to the

until 1925, the Spanish coast being only 20 km (12.5 miles) away. It is a cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnic Arab-Berber Muslim minority as well as

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

minorities. On 5 November 2007, King

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

visited the city, sparking great enthusiasm from the local population and protests from the Moroccan government. It was the first time a Spanish head of state had visited Ceuta in 80 years. Since 2010, Ceuta (and Melilla) have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, an official public holiday. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival has been officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista.

Geography

Ceuta is separated by from the

on the Spanish mainland by the

and it shares a land border with M'diq-Fnideq Prefecture in the Kingdom of Morocco. It has an area of . It is dominated by Monte Anyera, a hill along its western frontier with Morocco, which is guarded by a Spanish military fort. Monte Hacho on the

Peninsula of Almina The Península de Almina is a peninsula making up much of the eastern part of the Spanish city of Ceuta in Africa. It is dominated by the peak of Monte Hacho. The peninsula contains Ceuta's easternmost point, Punta Almina,port is one of the possible locations of the southern pillar of the Pillars of Hercules of Greek legend (the other possibility being

Important Bird Area

The Ceuta Peninsula has been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because the site is part of a migratory bottleneck, or choke point, at the western end of the Mediterranean for large numbers of raptors,

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

s and other birds flying between Europe and Africa. These include European honey buzzards, black kites, short-toed snake eagles, Egyptian vultures, griffon vultures, black storks, white storks and Audouin's gulls.

Climate

Ceuta has a maritime-influenced Mediterranean climate, similar to nearby Spanish and Moroccan cities such as Tarifa, Algeciras or Tangiers. The average diurnal temperature variation is relatively low; the average annual temperature is with average yearly highs of and lows of though the Ceuta weather station has only been in operation since 2003. Ceuta has relatively mild winters for the latitude, while summers are warm yet milder than in the interior of Southern Spain, due to the moderating effect of the Straits of Gibraltar. Summers are very dry, but yearly precipitation is still at , which could be considered a humid climate if the summers were not so arid.

Government and administration

Since 1995, Ceuta is, along with

, one of the two autonomous cities of Spain. Ceuta is known officially in Spanish as (English: ''Autonomous City of Ceuta''), with a rank between a standard municipality and an autonomous community. Ceuta is part of the territory of the European Union. The city was a free port before Spain joined the European Union in 1986. Now it has a low-tax system within the

Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of progr ...

. Since 1979, Ceuta has held elections to its 25-seat assembly every four years. The leader of its government was the Mayor until the Autonomy Statute provided for the new title of Mayor-President. , the People's Party (PP) won 18 seats, keeping Juan Jesús Vivas as Mayor-President, which he has been since 2001. The remaining seats are held by the regionalist

Caballas Coalition The Caballas Coalition ( es, Coalición Caballas, i.e., Mackerel Coallition) was a left-wing regionalist party in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta in north Africa. History The party formed for the 2011 election as a merger between the Ceuta ...

(4) and the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, 3). Owing to its small population, Ceuta elects only one member of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish legislature. election, this post is held by María Teresa López of Vox. Ceuta is subdivided into 63 ("neighborhoods"), such as Barriada de Berizu, Barriada de P. Alfonso, Barriada del Sarchal, and El Hacho.

Defence and Civil Guard

The defence of the enclave is the responsibility of the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

' General Command of Ceuta (COMGECEU). The

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

's combat components of the command include: * 54th ''Regulares'' Infantry Regiment based in ''González Tablas'' barracks; * 2nd Tercio ''Duke of Alba'' Regiment of the Spanish Legion based in the Seraglio-Recarga cantonment; * 3rd "Montesa" Cavalry Regiment (RC-3) located in the ''Colonel Galindo'' barracks and equipped with Leopard 2 main battle tanks and Pizarro infantry fighting vehicles * 30th Mixed Artillery Regiment, one group equipped with 155/52mm towed howitzers and the other with Mistral short-range SAMs and 35/90 SKYDOR/35/90 GDF-007 anti-aircraft guns fulfilling an air defence role; and, * 7th Engineer Regiment The command also includes its headquarters battalion as well as logistics elements. The Spanish Navy deploys the ''Aresa''-class patrol boat ''P-114'' in the territory. However, Ceuta itself is only 113 km distant from the main Spanish naval base at

Rota Rota or ROTA may refer to: Places * Rota (island), in the Marianas archipelago * Rota (volcano), in Nicaragua * Rota, Andalusia, a town in Andalusia, Spain * Naval Station Rota, Spain People * Rota (surname), a surname (including a list of peop ...

on the Spanish mainland. The

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

's Morón air base is also within 135 km proxmity. The

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

is responsible for border security and protects both the territory's fortified land border as well as its maritime approaches against frequent, and sometimes significant, migrant incursions.

Economy

The official currency of Ceuta is the euro. It is part of a special low tax zone in Spain. Ceuta is one of two Spanish port cities on the northern shore of Africa, along with

. They are historically military strongholds, free ports, oil ports, and also fishing ports. Today the economy of the city depends heavily on its port (now in expansion) and its industrial and retail centres.

Ceuta Heliport Ceuta Heliport ( es, Helipuerto de Ceuta) is the heliport, and only air transport facility, serving the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, in North Africa. Overview Since 9 January 2004, it has been possible to fly between Ceuta and Málaga by h ...

is now used to connect the city to mainland Spain by air. Lidl,

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

and El Corte Inglés have branches in Ceuta. There is also a casino. Border trade between Ceuta and Morocco is active because of advantage of tax-free status. Thousands of Moroccan women are involved in the cross-border porter trade daily, as

porteadoras es, Porteadoras, lit=carrier women, links=no, label=none are bale workers in the Spanish autonomous cities of Melilla and Ceuta, located on the north coast of Africa. History Due to a second duty called Biutz anything physically carried across ...

. The Moroccan dirham is used in such trade, even though prices are marked in euros.

Transport

The city's Port of Ceuta receives high numbers of ferries each day from Algeciras in

in the south of Spain. The closest airport is Sania Ramel Airport in Morocco. A single road border checkpoint to the south of Ceuta near Fnideq allows for cars and pedestrians to travel between Morocco and Ceuta. An additional border crossing for pedestrians exists between Benzú and Belyounech on the northern coast. The rest of the border is closed and inaccessible. There is a bus service throughout the city, and while it does not pass into neighbouring Morocco, it services both frontier crossings.

Hospitals

The following hospitals are located within Ceuta: * University Hospital of Ceuta, established in 2010, 252 beds * Primary Care Emergency Services Jose Lafont * Ceuta Medical Centre * Spanish Military Hospital (500 beds in 1929, 2020 listed as a clinic)

Demographics

As of 2018, its population was 85,144. Due to its location, Ceuta is home to a mixed ethnic and religious population. The two main religious groups are Christians and Muslims. As of 2006 approximately 50% of the population was Christian and approximately 48% Muslim. However, by 2012, the portion of Ceuta's population that identify as Roman Catholic was 68.0%, while the portion of Ceuta's population that identify as Muslim was 28.3%. As of a 2018 estimate, around 67.8% of the city's population were born in Ceuta. Spanish is the primary and official language of the enclave. Moroccan Arabic (Darija) is widely spoken. In 2021, the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with ...

demanded that Spain formally recognize the language by 2023.

Religion

Restos de la Basílica Tardorromana de Ceuta

Catedral de Ceuta, Ceuta, España, 2015-12-10, DD 04

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

has been present in Ceuta continuously from late antiquity, as evidenced by the ruins of a basilica in downtown Ceuta and accounts of the martyrdom of St. Daniel Fasanella and his Franciscans in 1227 during the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

. The town's Grand Mosque had been built over a Byzantine-era church. In 1415, the year of the city's conquest, the Portuguese converted the Grand Mosque into

Ceuta Cathedral The Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Asunción) is a Roman Catholic church located in the Spanish city of Ceuta, in a small exclave on the northwest coast of Africa. A primitive Eastern Roman Christian ...

. The present form of the cathedral dates to refurbishments undertaken in the late 17th century, combining

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and neoclassical elements. It was dedicated to StMary of the Assumption in 1726. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ceuta was established in 1417. It incorporated the suppressed

Diocese of Tanger The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tanger ( la, Dioecesis Tingitanus) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in Morocco. Headquartered in Tangier, it is immediately subject to the Holy See. History * 1469: Established as Diocese of Morocco from the Dio ...

in 1570. The Diocese of Ceuta was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

until 1675, when it became a suffragan of Seville. In 1851, Ceuta's administration was notionally merged into the Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta as part of a concordat between Spain and the Holy See; the union was not actually accomplished, however, until 1879. Small Jewish and

minorities are also present in the city.

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

is the largest religion in Ceuta. In 2019, the proportion of Ceutans that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 60.0%, The next largest religion was Islam (36.7%).

Migration

, Ceuta attracts African migrants who try to use it as an entry to Europe. As a result, the enclave is surrounded by double fences that are high, and hundreds of migrants congregate near the fences waiting for a chance to cross them. The fences are regularly stormed by migrants trying to claim asylum once they enter Ceuta.

Education

The University of Granada offers undergraduate programs at their campus in Ceuta. Like all areas of Spain, Ceuta is also served by the National University of Distance Education (UNED). While primary and secondary education are generally offered in Spanish only, a growing number of schools are entering the Bilingual Education Program.

Notable people from Ceuta

up to 1800

* Qadi Ayyad (1083 in Ceuta 1149) born in Ceuta, then belonging to the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

was the great imam of that city * Al-Idrisi (1100 in Ceuta 1165 in Ceuta) was a Muslim geographer, cartographer and Egyptologist. He lived in Palermo at the court of King

Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...

, known for the " Tabula Rogeriana" *

Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Khazraji al-Sabti () ( ''Sabta'' 1129 - Marrakesh 1204), better known as Sidi Bel Abbas, was a Moroccan Muslim saint. He is the patron saint of Marrakesh in the Islamic tradition and also one of the " Seven Sain ...

(1129 in Ceuta 1204 in Marrakesh) the main Wali of

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

* Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta (c. 1160 1226) a Jewish physician and poet, and disciple of Moses Maimonides * Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi (1162 in Ceuta 1236) a religious and legal scholar, member of the Banu al-Azafi who ruled Ceuta *

Mohammed ibn Rushayd Muhibb al-Din Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Rushayd al-Fihri al-Sabti (1259–1321, Arabic: ابن رشيد الفهري، أبو عبد الله محمد بن عمر) was a judge, writer and scholar of Hadith, born in Ceuta, North Africa (tod ...

(1259 in Sabta 1321) a judge, writer and scholar of Hadith * Álvaro of Braganza (1440–1504) a president of Council of Castile. *

George Camocke George Camocke () was an Irish Royal Navy captain. Camocke was a Jacobite renegade who became an admiral for Spain. He served under William III, Queen Anne, and George I. He was dismissed from the English service for disciplinary breaches. Camoc ...

(1666–1732) a Royal Navy captain and former admiral for Spain who was exiled to Ceuta to live out the last years of his life. * Don Fernando de Leyba (1734 in Ceuta 1780) a Spanish officer who served as the third governor of Upper Louisiana from 1778 until his death. * Brigadier General Francisco Antonio García Carrasco Díaz (1742 in Ceuta 1813 in Lima, Peru) a Spanish soldier and Royal Governor of Chile * Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan (1757 in Ceuta 1826 in Santiago de Cuba) a colonel in the Spanish Army who served as governor of East Florida 1812/1815, of Santo Domingo 1818/1821 and was provisional governor of Cuba 1822/1823 * Isidro de Alaix Fábregas Count of Vergara and Viscount of Villarrobledo, (1790 in Ceuta 1853 in Madrid) a Spanish general of the First Carlist War who backed Isabella II of Spain

since 1800

* General Francisco Llano de la Encomienda (1879 in Ceuta 1963 in Mexico City) a Spanish soldier. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) he remained loyal to the Second Spanish Republic * General Antonio Escobar Huertas (1879 in Ceuta executed 1940 in Barcelona) a Spanish military officer *

África de las Heras África de las Heras Gavilán (Ceuta, Spain, 26 April 1909 – Moscow, Russia, 8 March 1988) was a Spanish-born communist, naturalized Soviet citizen, and a secret service agent who went by the code name "Patria", but also used the names "Mar ...

Gavilán (1909 in Ceuta 1988 in Moscow) a Spanish Communist, naturalized Soviet citizen, and KGB spy who went by the code name ''Patria'' * Eugenio Martín (born 1925 in Ceuta) a Spanish film director and screenwriter *

Jacob Hassan Jacob Hassan, PhD (11 June 1936 – 13 August 2006) was a Spanish philologist of Sephardic Jewish descent from Ceuta, North Africa. Biography Hassan was born to a Sephardic Jewish family in Ceuta. Hassan was a member of the Jewish Community of ...

, PhD (1936 in Ceuta 2006 in Madrid) a Spanish philologist of Sephardic Jewish descent * Manuel Chaves González (born 1945 in Ceuta) a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. He served as the Third Vice President of the Spanish Government from 2009 to 2011 *

Ramón Castellano de Torres Ramón Castellano de Torres (born 31 August 1947 in Ceuta, Spain) is a Spanish artist. Art critics are in the habit of cataloguing him as a fundamentally expressionist painter, but his long artistic career and his wide variety of styles and cultiv ...

(born 1947 in Ceuta) a Spanish artist, thought by some to be an expressionist painter *

Ignacio Velázquez Rivera Ignacio Velázquez Rivera (born 1953) is a Spanish politician who served as mayor of Melilla from 1991 and became the first Mayor-President on 14 March 1995 when the enclave on the north coast of Africa became an autonomous community. He held th ...

(born 1953), first Mayor-President of

* Juan Jesús Vivas Lara (born 1953 in Ceuta) became the Mayor-President of Ceuta in Spain in 2001 * Pedro Avilés Gutiérrez (born 1956 in Ceuta) a Spanish novelist from Madrid. * Eva María Isanta Foncuberta (born 1971 in Ceuta) a Spanish actress * Mohamed Taieb Ahmed (born 1975 in Ceuta) a Spanish-Moroccan drug lord responsible for trafficking hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar and into Spain.

Sport

Francisco Lesmes Francisco Lesmes Bobed (4 March 1924 – 11 August 2005) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. Club career Born in Ceuta, Lesmes started out as a senior at SD Ceuta and Granada CF, signing with Real Valladolid in 1949 and going on ...

(1924–2005) and Rafael Lesmes (1926–2012) brothers and Spanish footballers. * José Martínez Sánchez (born 1945 in Ceuta), nicknamed ''Pirri'', a retired Spanish footballer, mainly played for Real Madrid, appearing in 561 competitive games and scoring 172 goals *

José Ramón López José Ramón López (born 22 November 1950) is a Spanish sprint canoer who competed in the mid to late 1970s. He won a silver medal in the K-4 1000 m event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. López also won six medals at the I ...

(born 1950) a sprint canoer, silver medallist at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

* Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti (born 1951 in Ceuta), known as ''Migueli'', a Spanish retired footballer, 391 caps for FC Barcelona and 32 for Spain * Nayim (born 1966 in Ceuta) a retired Spanish footballer; he scored a last-minute goal for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. *

Lorena Miranda Lorena Miranda Dorado (born 7 April 1991) is a Spanish water polo player, born in Ceuta. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed for the Spain women's national water polo team in the women's event, winning the silver medal. She is tall. On ...

(born 1991 in Ceuta) a Spanish female water polo player, silver medallist at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. *

Anuar Tuhami Anuar Mohamed Tuhami (born 15 January 1995), simply known as Anuar, is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Spanish club Real Valladolid. Born in Spain, Anuar represents the Morocco national team. Club career Born i ...

(born 1995 in Ceuta) a Spanish-Moroccan footballer, played one game for Morocco

Twin towns and sister cities

Ceuta is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Aci Catena Aci Catena ( scn, Jaci Catina) is a town and ''comune'' in Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Main sights Among the churches in town are the Santuario Maria Santissima della Catena and Santa Lucia. Twin towns * Ceuta, Spai ...

, Italy * Algeciras, Spain (since 1997) *

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, Argentina * Cádiz, Spain (since 2007) *

, Spain * Santarém, Portugal

Dispute with Morocco

The government of Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and

, along with uninhabited islets such as the islands of Alhucemas, Velez and the Perejil island, drawing comparisons with Spain's territorial claim to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. In both cases, the national governments and local populations of the disputed territories reject these claims by a large majority. The Spanish position is that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of Spain, and have been since the 16th century, centuries prior to Morocco's independence from Spain and France in 1956, whereas Gibraltar, being a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

, is not and never has been part of the United Kingdom. Morocco has claimed the territories are colonies. One of the chief arguments used by Morocco to reclaim Ceuta comes from geography, as this

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

, which is surrounded by Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea, has no territorial continuity with the rest of Spanish territory. This argument was originally developed by one of the founders of the Moroccan Istiqlal Party, Alal-El Faasi, who openly advocated the Moroccan conquest of Ceuta and other territories under Spanish rule. In 1986, Spain entered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However Ceuta and Melilla are not under NATO protection since Article 6 of the treaty limits the coverage to Europe and North America and islands north of the Tropic of Cancer. This contrasts with

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

which was explicitly included in the treaty. Legal experts have interpreted that other articles could cover the Spanish North African cities but this interpretation has not been tested in practice. On the occasion of NATO's Madrid Summit in 2022, the issue of the protection Cueta and Melilla was a prominent one with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stating: "On which territories NATO protects and Ceuta and Melilla, NATO is there to protect all Allies against any threats. At the end of the day, it will always be a political decision to invoke Article 5, but rest assured NATO is there to protect and defend all Allies". On 21 December 2020, following the affirmations of the Moroccan Prime Minister, Saadeddine Othmani, stating that Ceuta and Melilla "are Moroccan as the Sahara s, Spain urgently summoned the Moroccan ambassador to convey that Spain expects all its partners to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its territory in Africa and asked for explanations of Othmani's words.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * .

External links

*
Official Ceuta government websiteCeuta tourism website
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