Bordered by\u00a0Morocco<\/a>, it lies along the boundary between the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Atlantic Ocean<\/a>. It is one of nine populated Spanish territories in Africa and, along with\u00a0Melilla<\/a>, one of two populated Spanish territories on mainland Africa. It was part of the\u00a0province of C\u00e1diz<\/a>\u00a0until 14 March 1995. On that date,\u00a0Statutes of Autonomy<\/a>\u00a0were passed for both Ceuta and Melilla.<\/p>\n Ceuta, like Melilla and the\u00a0Canary Islands<\/a>, was classified as a\u00a0free port<\/a>\u00a0before Spain joined the\u00a0European Union<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Its population consists of\u00a0Christians<\/a>,\u00a0Muslims<\/a>, and small minorities of\u00a0Sephardic Jews<\/a>\u00a0and ethnic\u00a0Sindhis<\/a>\u00a0from modern-day\u00a0Pakistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spanish<\/a>\u00a0is the only official language.\u00a0Darija Arabic<\/a>\u00a0is also spoken by 15\u201320% of the population.<\/p>\n Controlling access between the <\/span>Atlantic Ocean<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>Mediterranean Sea<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Strait of Gibraltar<\/a>\u00a0is an important military and commercial\u00a0<\/span>chokepoint<\/a>. The\u00a0<\/span>Phoenicians<\/a>\u00a0realized the extremely narrow isthmus joining the\u00a0<\/span>Peninsula of Almina<\/a>\u00a0to the African mainland makes Ceuta eminently defensible and established an outpost there early in the 1st millennium<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>BC. The\u00a0<\/span>Greek geographers<\/a>\u00a0record it by variations of\u00a0<\/span>Abyla<\/i>, the ancient name of nearby\u00a0<\/span>Jebel Musa<\/a>. Beside Calpe, the other\u00a0<\/span>Pillar of Hercules<\/a>\u00a0now known as the\u00a0<\/span>Rock of Gibraltar<\/a>, the Phoenicians established\u00a0<\/span>Kart<\/a>\u00a0at what is now\u00a0<\/span>San Roque<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Spain<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Other good anchorages nearby became\u00a0<\/span>Phoenician<\/a>\u00a0and then\u00a0<\/span>Carthaginian<\/a>\u00a0ports at what are now\u00a0<\/span>Tangiers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>C\u00e1diz<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After\u00a0Carthage<\/a>‘s\u00a0destruction<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Punic Wars<\/a>, most of\u00a0northwest Africa<\/a>\u00a0was left to the\u00a0Roman<\/a>\u00a0client states<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Numidia<\/a>\u00a0and\u2014around Abyla\u2014Mauretania<\/a>.\u00a0Punic culture<\/a>\u00a0continued to thrive in what the Romans knew as “Septem”. After the\u00a0Battle of Thapsus<\/a>\u00a0in 46\u00a0BC,\u00a0Caesar<\/a>\u00a0and his heirs began annexing north Africa directly as\u00a0Roman provinces<\/a>\u00a0but, as late as\u00a0Augustus<\/a>, most of Septem’s\u00a0Berber<\/a>\u00a0residents continued to speak and write in\u00a0Punic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Caligula<\/a>\u00a0assassinated the Mauretanian king\u00a0Ptolemy<\/a>\u00a0in AD\u00a0<\/span>40 and seized his kingdom, which\u00a0Claudius<\/a>\u00a0organized in AD\u00a042, placing Septem in the\u00a0province<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Tingitana<\/a>\u00a0and raising it to the level of a\u00a0colony<\/a>. It subsequently\u00a0romanized<\/a>\u00a0and thrived into the late 3rd century, trading heavily with\u00a0Roman Spain<\/a>\u00a0and becoming well known for its\u00a0salted fish<\/a>.\u00a0Roads<\/a>\u00a0connected it overland with\u00a0Tingis<\/a>\u00a0(Tangiers) and\u00a0Volubilis<\/a>. Under\u00a0Theodosius I<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the late 4th century, Septem still had 10,000 inhabitants, nearly all\u00a0Christian<\/a>\u00a0citizens<\/a>\u00a0speaking\u00a0Latin<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0African Romance<\/a>.[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Vandals<\/a>, probably invited by\u00a0Count Boniface<\/a>\u00a0as protection against the\u00a0empress dowager<\/a>, crossed the strait near Tingis around 425 and swiftly overran Roman North Africa. Their king\u00a0Gaiseric<\/a>\u00a0focused his attention on the rich lands around\u00a0Carthage<\/a>; 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\u00a0Justinian<\/a>\u00a0decided to\u00a0reconquer the Vandal lands<\/a>, his victorious general\u00a0Belisarius<\/a>\u00a0continued along the coast, making Septem an\u00a0outpost<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Byzantine Empire<\/a>\u00a0around 533. Unlike the Roman administration, however, the Byzantines did not push far into hinterland and made the more defensible Septem their regional capital in place of Tingis.<\/p>\n Epidemics<\/a>, less capable successors and overstretched supply lines forced a retrenchment and left Septem isolated. It is likely that its\u00a0count<\/a>\u00a0(comes<\/i><\/i>) was obliged to pay homage to the\u00a0Visigoth Kingdom<\/a>\u00a0in Spain in the early 7th century. There are no reliable contemporary accounts of the end of the\u00a0Islamic conquest of the Maghreb<\/a>\u00a0around 710. Instead, the rapid\u00a0Muslim conquest of Spain<\/a>\u00a0produced\u00a0romances<\/a>\u00a0concerning\u00a0Count Julian<\/a>\u00a0of Septem and his betrayal of Christendom in revenge for the dishonor that befell his daughter at\u00a0King Roderick<\/a>‘s court. Allegedly with Julian’s encouragement and instructions, the Berber convert and freedman\u00a0Tariq ibn Ziyad<\/a>\u00a0took his garrison from Tangiers across the strait and overran the Spanish so swiftly that both he and his master\u00a0Musa bin Nusayr<\/a>\u00a0fell afoul of\u00a0a jealous caliph<\/a>, who stripped them of their wealth and titles.<\/p>\n After the death of Julian, sometimes also described as a king of the\u00a0Ghomara Berbers<\/a>, Berber converts to Islam took direct control of what they called Sebta. It was then destroyed during\u00a0their great revolt<\/a>\u00a0against the\u00a0Umayyad Caliphate<\/a>\u00a0around 740. Sebta subsequently remained a small village of Muslims and Christians surrounded by ruins until its resettlement in the 9th century by M\u00e2jakas, chief of the Majkasa Berber tribe, who started the short-lived\u00a0Banu Isam<\/a>\u00a0dynasty.<\/sup>\u00a0His great-grandson briefly allied his tribe with the\u00a0Idrisids<\/a>, but Banu Isam rule ended in 931 when he abdicated in favor of\u00a0Abd ar-Rahman III<\/a>, the\u00a0Umayyad<\/a>\u00a0caliph of Cordoba<\/a>. Ceuta reverted to\u00a0Moorish<\/a>\u00a0Andalusian<\/a>\u00a0rule in 927 along with\u00a0Melilla<\/a>, and later\u00a0Tangier<\/a>, in 951.<\/p>\n Chaos ensued with the fall of the Caliphate of C\u00f3rdoba in 1031. Following this, Ceuta and Muslim Iberia were controlled by successive North African dynasties. Starting in 1084, the\u00a0Almoravid<\/a>\u00a0Berbers ruled the region until 1147, when the\u00a0Almohads<\/a>\u00a0conquered the land. Apart from\u00a0Ibn Hud<\/a>‘s rebellion in 1232, they ruled until the Tunisian\u00a0Hafsids<\/a>\u00a0established 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\u00a0kingdoms of Fez<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Granada<\/a>\u00a0as well as autonomous rule under the native\u00a0Banu al-Azafi<\/a>. The Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance from\u00a0Aragon<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the morning of 21 August 1415, King\u00a0John I of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as the\u00a0Conquest of Ceuta<\/a>. 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.\u00a0\u00c1lvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches<\/a>\u00a0was asked to hoist what was to become the\u00a0flag of Ceuta<\/a>, which is identical to the\u00a0flag of Lisbon<\/a>, but in which the coat of arms derived from that of the\u00a0Kingdom of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0was added to the center; the original Portuguese flag and\u00a0coat of arms<\/a>\u00a0of Ceuta remained unchanged, and the modern-day Ceuta flag features the configuration of the\u00a0Portuguese shield<\/a>.<\/p>\n John’s son\u00a0Henry the Navigator<\/a>\u00a0distinguished 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.<\/sup><\/p>\n From 1415 to 1437,\u00a0Pedro de Meneses<\/a>\u00a0became the first governor of Ceuta.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Benemerine sultan<\/a>\u00a0started the\u00a01418 siege<\/a>\u00a0but was defeated by the first governor of Ceuta before reinforcements arrived in the form of\u00a0John, Constable of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0and his brother\u00a0Henry the Navigator<\/a>\u00a0who were sent with troops to defend Ceuta.<\/p>\n Under\u00a0King John I<\/a>‘s son,\u00a0Duarte<\/a>, the colony at Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury.\u00a0Trans-Saharan trade<\/a>\u00a0journeyed instead to\u00a0Tangier<\/a>. It was soon realized that without the city of Tangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437,\u00a0Duarte’s brothers<\/a>\u00a0Henry the Navigator<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Fernando, the Saint Prince<\/a>\u00a0persuaded him to launch an attack on the\u00a0Marinid<\/a>\u00a0sultanate. The resulting\u00a0Battle of Tangier (1437)<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Possession of Ceuta would indirectly lead to further\u00a0Portuguese expansion<\/a>. The main area of Portuguese expansion, at this time, was the coast of the\u00a0Maghreb<\/a>, where there was grain, cattle, sugar, and textiles, as well as fish, hides, wax, and honey.<\/sup><\/p>\n Ceuta had to endure alone for 43 years, until the position of the city was consolidated with the taking of\u00a0Ksar es-Seghir<\/a>\u00a0(1458),\u00a0Arzila<\/a>\u00a0and Tangier (1471) by the Portuguese.<\/p>\n The city was recognized as a Portuguese possession by the\u00a0Treaty of Alc\u00e1\u00e7ovas<\/a>\u00a0(1479) and by the\u00a0Treaty of Tordesillas<\/a>\u00a0(1494).<\/p>\n In the 1540s the Portuguese began building the\u00a0Royal Walls of Ceuta<\/a>\u00a0as 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.<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1578 King\u00a0Sebastian of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0died at the\u00a0Battle of Alc\u00e1cer Quibir<\/a>\u00a0(known as the Battle of Three Kings) in what is today northern Morocco, without descendants, triggering the\u00a01580 Portuguese succession crisis<\/a>. His granduncle, the elderly\u00a0Cardinal Henry<\/a>, succeeded him as King, but Henry also had no descendants, having taken holy orders. When the cardinal-king died two years after Sebastian’s disappearance, three grandchildren of King\u00a0Manuel I of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0claimed the throne:\u00a0Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza<\/a>;\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio, Prior of Crato<\/a>; and Philip II of Spain (Uncle of former King Sebastian of Portugal), who would go on to be crowned King\u00a0Philip I of Portugal<\/a>\u00a0in 1581, uniting the two crowns and overseas empires known as the\u00a0Iberian Union<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0which allowed the two kingdoms to continue without being merged.<\/p>\n During the Iberian Union 1580 to 1640, Ceuta attracted many residents of Spanish origin.<\/sup>\u00a0Ceuta became the only city of the\u00a0Portuguese Empire<\/a>\u00a0that sided with Spain when Portugal regained its independence in the\u00a0Portuguese Restoration War<\/a>\u00a0of 1640.<\/p>\n The city was attacked by Moroccan forces under\u00a0Moulay Ismail<\/a>\u00a0during the\u00a0Siege of Ceuta (1694\u20131727)<\/a>. 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\u00a0Royal Walls of Ceuta<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Disagreements regarding the border of Ceuta resulted in the\u00a0Hispano-Moroccan War (1859\u201360)<\/a>, which ended at the\u00a0Battle of Tetu\u00e1n<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Llano Amarillo<\/a>\u00a0monument was erected to honor\u00a0Francisco Franco<\/a>, it was inaugurated on 13 July 1940. The tall obelisk has since been abandoned, but the shield symbols of the\u00a0Falange<\/a>\u00a0and Imperial Eagle remain visible.<\/sup><\/p>\n When Spain recognized the independence of\u00a0Spanish Morocco<\/a>\u00a0in 1956, Ceuta and the other\u00a0plazas de soberan\u00eda<\/a><\/i>\u00a0remained under Spanish rule. Spain considered them integral parts of the Spanish state, but Morocco has disputed this point.<\/p>\n Culturally, modern Ceuta is part of the Spanish region of\u00a0Andalusia<\/a>. It was attached to the\u00a0province of C\u00e1diz<\/a>\u00a0until 1925, the Spanish coast being only 20\u00a0km (12.5 miles) away. It is a cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnic\u00a0Arab-Berber<\/a>\u00a0Muslim minority as well as\u00a0Sephardic<\/a>\u00a0Jewish and\u00a0Hindu<\/a>\u00a0minorities.<\/sup><\/p>\n On 5 November 2007, King\u00a0Juan Carlos I<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Since 2010, Ceuta (and Melilla) have declared the\u00a0Muslim holiday<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Eid al-Adha<\/a>, or Feast of the Sacrifice, an official public holiday. It is the first time a non-Christian\u00a0religious festival<\/a>\u00a0has been officially celebrated in Spain since the\u00a0Reconquista<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n Ceuta is separated by 17 km (11 mi)<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0from the\u00a0<\/span>province of C\u00e1diz<\/a>\u00a0on the Spanish mainland by the\u00a0<\/span>Strait of Gibraltar<\/a>\u00a0and it shares a 6.4\u00a0km (4\u00a0mi) land\u00a0<\/span>border<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>M’diq-Fnideq Prefecture<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span>Kingdom of Morocco<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n It has an area of 18.5\u00a0km<\/span>2<\/sup>\u00a0(7\u00a0sq\u00a0mi; 4,571 acres). It is dominated by Monte Anyera, a hill along its western frontier with Morocco, which is guarded by a Spanish\u00a0<\/span>military<\/a>\u00a0fort.\u00a0<\/span>Monte Hacho<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0<\/span>Peninsula of Almina<\/a>\u00a0overlooking the\u00a0<\/span>port<\/a>\u00a0is one of the possible locations of the southern pillar of the\u00a0<\/span>Pillars of Hercules<\/a>\u00a0of Greek legend (the other possibility being\u00a0<\/span>Jebel Musa<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The official currency of Ceuta is the euro<\/a>. It is part of a special low tax zone in Spain.<\/sup>\u00a0Ceuta is one of two Spanish port cities on the northern shore of Africa, along with\u00a0Melilla<\/a>. They are historically military strongholds,\u00a0free ports<\/a>, oil ports, and also fishing ports.<\/sup> Today the economy of the city depends heavily on its port (now in expansion) and its industrial and retail centers.<\/sup> Lidl<\/a>,\u00a0Decathlon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0El Corte Ingl\u00e9s<\/a>\u00a0have branches in Ceuta. There is also a\u00a0casino<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0porteadoras<\/a>. The\u00a0Moroccan dirham<\/a> is used in such trade, even though prices are marked in euros.<\/sup><\/p>\n The city’s\u00a0Port of Ceuta<\/a>\u00a0receives high numbers of ferries each day from\u00a0Algeciras<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Andalusia<\/a>\u00a0in the south of Spain.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Ceuta-in-Spain-300x258.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Ancient:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Phoenician-Archeological-Site.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Medieval:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/The-Arab-Baths-of-Ceuta-201x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/The-Marinid-Walls-Built-by-Abu-Said-Uthman-II-in-1328.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Portuguese:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Prince-Henry-the-Navigator-During-the-Conquest-of-Ceuta.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/The-Royal-Walls-of-Ceuta.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Iberian Union:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Fort-of-the-Desnarigado.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Spanish:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/1572-Depiction-of-Ceuta.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/A-Street-in-Ceuta-c.-1905\u20131910.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Eclectic-House-of-the-Dragons-Built-in-1905.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Map-of-Ceuta-300x156.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/07\/Ceuta-Casino-300x210.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/span><\/h3>\n