Ceuta
Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta
Autonomous City of Ceuta
Ceuta is a
Spanish exclave in
North Africa, located on the Mediterranean, on the southern coast of the
Strait of Gibraltar, bordering
Morocco. It is known in
Arabic as سبتة
Sebta and in
Tamazight as
Sibta. Its area is approximately
28 km².
Ceuta is dominated by a hill called
Monte Hacho, on which there is a fort occupied by the Spanish army. Monte Hacho is one of the possible locations for the southern
Pillars of Hercules of Greek Legend, the other possibility being
Jebel Musa.
Ceuta's strategic location has made it the crucial waypoint of many cultures' trade and military ventures — beginning with the
Carthaginians in the
5th century BC (They called the city
Abyla). It wasn't until the
Romans took control in about AD
42, however, that the port city (named
Septem at the time) assumed an almost exclusive military purpose. Approximately 400 years later, the
Vandals ousted the Romans for control, and later it fell to the
Visigoths of Spain or to the
Byzantines.
In
710, as
Muslim armies approached the city, its Visigothic governor
Julian (also described as "king of the
Ghomara") changed sides and urged them to invade Spain (for personal reasons, according to the Arab chroniclers; the Visigothic King
Roderick is said to have mistreated his daughter). Under the leadership of
Berber general
Tariq ibn Ziyad, Ceuta was used as a prime
staging ground for an assault on
Visigoth-ruled
Iberia soon after.
After Julian's death the Arabs took direct control of the city; this was resented by the surrounding indigenous
Berber tribes, who destroyed it in a
Kharijite rebellion led by
Maysara al-Haqir in
740. It lay waste until refounded in the
9th century by
Majakas, chief of the
Majkasa Berber tribe, who started the short-lived dynasty of the
Banu Isam. Under his great-grandson they paid allegiance to the
Idrisids (briefly); the dynasty finally ended when he abdicated in favour of the
Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba Abd ar-Rahman III an-Nasir in
931. Chaos ensued with the fall of the Umayyad caliphate in
1031, but eventually it was taken over by the
Almoravids in
1084, and again used as a base from which to invade Spain. They were succeeded by the
Almohads in
1147, who ruled it, apart from Ibn Hud's rebellion of
1232, until the
Hafsids took it in
1242. The Hafsids' influence in the west rapidly waned, and the city expelled them in
1249; after this, it went through a period of political instability. In 1309 was captured with Aragonese help.
Kingdom of Fez (1309-1415)In
1415, Ceuta was taken by the
Portuguese during the reign of
John I of Portugal. The primary aim of the conquest was to expel Muslim influence from the area and further promote
Christianity.
In the Treaty of
Lisbon (
1 January 1668), Don
Alfonso VI of Portugal formally ceded the area of Ceuta to
Carlos II of Spain.
Culturally, modern Ceuta can be considered part of the Spanish region of Andalusia. Indeed, it was until recently attached to the province of Cádiz -the coasts of Cádiz being only 12 miles away. It is a very cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnic Berber Muslim minority as well as Jewish minorities.
|
Eastern Ceuta, as photographed from Morocco. Monte Hacho is the hill to the right of the picture. |
 |
The entrance to the fair at Ceuta. As in Andalusia, the nightlife in Ceuta carries on until the early hours. In the first week of August, Ceuta celebrates its patron saint, Our Lady of Africa. These celebrations include a large and colourful fair that stays open late into the night. |
|
Ceuta's Royal Walls are in the foreground. Boats travel between the east and west sides of Ceuta. In the background is Monte Hacho. On top of the hill is a Spanish fort occupied by the Spanish army. |
Ceuta is known officially in
Spanish as
Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta, the
Autonomous City of Ceuta, having a rank between a standard Spanish city and an
autonomous community. Before the Statute of Autonomy, Ceuta was administratively part of the
Cádiz province.
Ceuta forms 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-taxes system inside the European Monetary System. As of
1994 its population was 71,926.
The government of
Morocco has called for the integration of Ceuta and
Melilla, along with uninhabited islands such as
Isla Perejil, into its national territory, drawing comparisons with Spain's territorial claim to
Gibraltar. The Spanish government and both Ceuta's and Melilla's autonomous governments and inhabitants reject these comparisons on the ground that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of the Spanish state whereas Gibraltar, a British
Crown colony, is not and never has been part of the
United Kingdom. Ceuta's Islamic past also roughly coincides with that of the rest of Southern Spain. Morocco, however, dismisses this argument as an irrelevant domestic technical distinction.
ISO 3166-1 reserves
EA as the country code for Ceuta and
Melilla. The
amateur radio call sign used for both cities is EA9, and they count as one separate "entity."
By the Concordat of 1851 the diocese of Ceuta, a suffragen of the Andalusian
archbishopric of Seville, was suppressed and incorporated with the
diocese of Cadiz, whose bishop became regularly
Apostolic Administrator of Ceuta.
There were in the early 20th century in Ceuta, 22 parishes, 26 priests, and 11,700 inhabitants.
*
Ceuta border fence*
Isla Perejil*
Melilla*
Information on the history of Ceuta*
Official Ceuta government website*
Spain's North African enclaves*
Photos: Ceuta*
Photos: Semana Santa in Ceuta*
Map of Ceuta and Perejil Island*
Documentary about illegal immigrants trying to reach Ceuta from Morocco*
Ceuta Guide: Tourist Information, History, Accommodation
