The nameAbyla has been said to have been aPunic name ("Lofty Mountain"[11] or "Mountain ofGod") forJebel Musa,[12] the southernPillar of Hercules.[13] The name of the mountain was in factHabenna (Punic:𐤀𐤁𐤍,ʾbn, "Stone" or "Stele") orʾAbin-ḥīq (𐤀𐤁𐤍𐤇𐤒,ʾbnḥq, "Rock of the Bay"), about the nearbyBay of Benzú.[14] The name washellenized variously asÁpini (Ancient Greek:Ἄπινι),[14]Abýla (Ἀβύλα),Abýlē (Ἀβύλη),Ablýx (Ἀβλύξ), andAbilē Stḗlē (Ἀβίλη Στήλη, "Pillar of Abyla")[13] and inLatin asAbyla Mons ("Mount Abyla") orAbyla Columna ("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"[15] (Ancient Greek:Ἑπτάδελφοι,romanized: Heptádelphoi;[16]Latin:Septem Fratres).[17] In particular, the Roman stronghold at the site took the name "Fort at the Seven Brothers" (Castellum ad Septem Fratres).[13] This was gradually shortened to Septem[18] (ΣέπτονSépton) or, occasionally,Septum[19] orSepta.[20] These clipped forms continued asBerberSebta andArabicSabtan[15] orSabtah (سبتة), which themselves becameCeuta inPortuguese (pronounced[ˈseu̯tɐ]) andSpanish (locallypronounced[ˈseu̯ta]).
Vandals, probably invited byCount Boniface as protection against theempress dowager, crossed the strait near Tingis around 425 and swiftly overranRoman North Africa. Their king,Gaiseric, focused his attention on the rich lands aroundCarthage; 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. WhenJustinian decided toreconquer the Vandal lands, his victorious generalBelisarius continued along the coast, making Septem a westernmost outpost of theByzantine Empire around 533. Unlike the former ancient Roman administration, however, Eastern Rome did not push far into thehinterland 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 itscount (comes) was obliged to pay homage to theVisigoth Kingdom in Spain in the early 7th century. There are no reliable contemporary accounts of the end of theIslamic conquest of the Maghreb around 710. Instead, the rapidMuslim conquest of Spain producedromances concerningCount Julian of Septem and his betrayal of Christendom in revenge for the dishonor that befell his daughter atKing Roderick's court. Allegedly with Julian's encouragement and instructions, the Berber convert and freedmanTariq ibn Ziyad took his garrison from Tangiers across the strait and overran the Spanish so swiftly that both he and his masterMusa bin Nusayr fell afoul ofa jealous caliph, who stripped them of their wealth and titles.
After the death of Julian, sometimes also described as a king of theGhomara Berbers, Berber converts to Islam took direct control of what they called Sebta. It was then destroyed duringtheir great revolt against theUmayyad 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-livedBanu Isam dynasty.[22] His great-grandson briefly allied his tribe with theIdrisids, but Banu Isam rule ended in 931[23] when he abdicated in favor ofAbd ar-Rahman III, the Umayyad ruler ofCórdoba, Spain.
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, theAlmoravid Berbers ruled the region until 1147, when theAlmohads conquered the land. Apart fromIbn Hud's rebellion in 1232, they ruled until the TunisianHafsids 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 theMarinids andGranada as well as autonomous rule under the nativeBanu al-Azafi. The Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance fromAragon.
On the morning of 21 August 1415, KingJohn I of Portugal led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as theConquest of Ceuta. The battle was almost anticlimactic, 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 theflag of Ceuta, which is identical to theflag of Lisbon, but in which the coat of arms derived from that of theKingdom of Portugal was added to the center; the original Portuguese flag andcoat of arms of Ceuta remained unchanged, and the modern-day Ceuta flag features the configuration of thePortuguese shield.
John's sonHenry the Navigator 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, so he decided to keep the city to pursue further enterprises in the area.[24]
From 1415 to 1437,Pedro de Meneses became the first governor of Ceuta.
UnderKing John I's son,Duarte, the city of Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury.Trans-Saharan trade journeyed instead toTangier. It was soon realized that without the city of Tangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437,Duarte's brothersHenry the Navigator andFernando, the Saint Prince persuaded him to launch an attack on theMarinid sultanate. The resultingBattle of Tangier (1437), 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 indirectly led to furtherPortuguese expansion. The main area of Portuguese expansion, at this time, was the coast of theMaghreb, where there was grain, cattle, sugar, and textiles, as well as fish, hides, wax, and honey.[25]
Ceuta had to endure alone for 43 years, until the position of the city was consolidated with the taking ofKsar es-Seghir (1458),Arzila and Tangier (1471) by the Portuguese.
In the 1540s the Portuguese began building theRoyal Walls of Ceuta as they are today includingbastions, a navigable moat and a drawbridge. Some of these bastions are still standing, like the bastions of Coraza Alta, Bandera and Mallorquines.[26]
Luís de Camões lived in Ceuta between 1549 and 1551, losing his right eye in battle, which influenced his work of poetryOs Lusíadas.
During the Union with Spain, 1580 to 1640, Ceuta attracted many residents of Spanish origin[28] and became the only city of thePortuguese Empire that sided with Spain when Portugal regained its independence in thePortuguese Restoration War of 1640.
Fort of the Desnarigado, built in the 19th century, houses a museum.EclecticHouse of the Dragons, built in 1905A street in Ceuta,c. 1905–1910Map of Ceuta in the 1940s
The city was attacked by Moroccan forces underMoulay Ismail during theSiege of Ceuta (1694–1727). During the longest siege in history, the city underwent changes leading to the loss of its Portuguese character.[clarification needed] While most of the military operations took place around theRoyal 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.
In July 1936, GeneralFrancisco Franco took command of theSpanish Army of Africa and rebelled against the Spanish republican government; his military uprising led to theSpanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Franco transported troops to mainland Spain in an airlift using transport aircraft supplied byGermany andItaly. Ceuta became one of the first battlegrounds 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.[31]
TheLlano Amarillo monument was erected to honorFrancisco Franco; it was inaugurated on 13 July 1940. The tall obelisk has since been abandoned, but the shield symbols of theFalange and Imperial Eagle remain visible.[32]
Following the 1947Partition of India, a substantial number ofSindhi Hindus from current-day Pakistan settled in Ceuta, adding to a small Hindu community that had existed in Ceuta since 1893, connected to Gibraltar's.[33]
When Spain recognized the independence ofSpanish Morocco in 1956, Ceuta and the otherplazas de soberanía 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 ofAndalusia. It was attached to theprovince of Cádiz until 1995, the Spanish coast being only 20 km (12.5 miles) away. It is a cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnicArab-Berber[citation needed] Muslim minority as well asSephardic Jewish andHindu minorities.[34]
On 5 November 2007, KingJuan Carlos I visited the city, sparking great enthusiasm from the local population and protests from the Moroccan government.[35] It was the first time a Spanish head of state had visited Ceuta in 80 years.[36][better source needed]
Map of Ceuta (thePerejil Island, part of Ceuta, is just off the coast, in the upper left of this map)
Perspective view of theStrait of Gibraltar facing eastwards; Spain andGibraltar on the left; Morocco and Ceuta on the right. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of 3.
Ceuta has a maritime-influencedMediterranean climate, similar to nearby Spanish and Moroccan cities such asTarifa,Algeciras orTangiers.[42] The averagediurnal temperature variation is relatively low; the average annual temperature is 18.8 °C (65.8 °F) with average yearly highs of 21.4 °C (70.5 °F) and lows of 15.7 °C (60.3 °F) though the Ceuta weather station has only been in operation since 2003.[43] 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 849 mm (33.4 in),[43] which could be considered a humid climate if the summers were not so arid.
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 ofMayor-President. As of 2011[update], thePeople's Party (PP) won 18 seats, keepingJuan Jesús Vivas as Mayor-President, which he has been since 2001. The remaining seats are held by the regionalistCaballas Coalition (4) and theSocialist Workers' Party (PSOE, 3).[46]
Owing to its small population, Ceuta elects only one member of theCongress of Deputies, the lower house of theCortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament). As of the November 2019[update] election, this post is held by María Teresa López ofVox.[47]
Ceuta is subdivided into 63barriadas ("neighborhoods"), such as Barriada de Berizu, Barriada de P. Alfonso, Barriada del Sarchal, and El Hacho.[48][49][50]
The defence of the enclave is the responsibility of theSpanish Armed Forces' General Command of Ceuta (COMGECEU).[51] TheSpanish Army's combat components of the command include:
The command also includes its headquarters battalion as well as logistics elements.[51]
In 2023, theSpanish Navy replaced theAresa-class patrol boatP-114 in the territory with theRodman-class patrol boatIsla de León.[54]
Ceuta itself is only 113 km (70 mi) distant from the main Spanish naval base atRota on the Spanish mainland. TheSpanish Air Force'sMorón Air Base is also within 135 km (84 mi) proximity.[citation needed]
TheCivil Guard is responsible for border security and protects both the territory'sfortified land border as well as its maritime approaches against frequent, and sometimes significant, migrant incursions.[55]
The Moroccan mountain ofJebel Musa, as viewed fromBenzú. It is also known as the 'Dead Woman' because of its silhouette.
The official currency of Ceuta is theeuro. It is part of a special low tax zone in Spain.[56] Ceuta is one of two Spanish port cities on the northern shore of Africa, along withMelilla. They are historically military strongholds,free ports, oil ports, and also fishing ports.[57] Today the economy of the city depends heavily on its port (now in expansion) and its industrial and retail centres.[56]Ceuta Heliport is now used to connect the city to mainland Spain by air.Lidl,Decathlon andEl Corte Inglés have branches in Ceuta. There is also acasino.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, asporteadoras. TheMoroccan dirham is used in such trade, even though prices are marked in euros.[58][59][60]
The city'sPort of Ceuta receives high numbers of ferries each day fromAlgeciras inAndalusia in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.
A single road border checkpoint to the south of Ceuta near Fnideq allows for cars and pedestrians to travel between Morocco and Spain. An additional border crossing for pedestrians exists between Benzú andBelyounech 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.
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.[68] As of a 2018 estimate, around 67.8% of the city's population were born in Ceuta.[69]
Spanish is the primary and official language of the enclave.[70]Moroccan Arabic (Darija) is widely spoken.[71] In 2021, theCouncil of Europe demanded that Spain formally recognize the language by 2023.[72]
Remains of the Late Roman Christian Basilica and Necropolis of Ceuta, dated to the mid-4th century AD or the beginning of the 5th century ADCathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, completed in 1726
The town's Grand Mosque had been built over aByzantine-era church. In 1415, the year of the city's conquest, thePortuguese converted the Grand Mosque intoCeuta Cathedral. The present form of the cathedral dates to refurbishments undertaken in the late 17th century, combiningbaroque andneoclassical elements. It wasdedicated toStMary of the Assumption in 1726.
LikeMelilla, 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 6 m (20 ft) 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.[79]
While primary and secondary education are generally offered in Spanish only, a growing number of schools are entering the Bilingual Education Programme.[clarification needed]
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
GeneralFrancisco 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
GeneralAntonio Escobar Huertas (1879 in Ceuta – executed 1940 in Barcelona), a Spanish military officer
África de las Heras Gavilán (1909 in Ceuta – 1988 in Moscow), a Spanish Communist, naturalized Soviet citizen, andKGB spy who went by the code namePatria
Jacob Hassan, PhD (1936 in Ceuta – 2006 in Madrid), a Spanishphilologist 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 (born 1947 in Ceuta), a Spanish artist, thought by some to be an expressionist painter
Mohamed Taieb Ahmed (born 1975 in Ceuta), a Spanish-Moroccan drug lord[83] responsible for trafficking hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar and into Spain.
José Martínez Sánchez (born 1945 in Ceuta), nicknamedPirri, a retired Spanish footballer, mainly played for Real Madrid, appearing in 561 competitive games and scoring 172 goals
TheMoroccan government has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta,Melilla and theplazas de soberanía to Morocco, with Spain's refusal to do so serving as a major source of tension inMorocco–Spain relations. In Morocco, Ceuta is frequently referred to as the "occupied Sebtah", and the Moroccan government has argued that the city, along with other Spanish territories in the region, arecolonies.[89][90] One of the major arguments used by Morocco in their attempts to acquire sovereignty over Ceuta refers to the geographical position of the city, as Ceuta is anexclave surrounded by Moroccan territory and theMediterranean Sea and has no territorial continuity with the rest of Spain.[91] This argument was originally developed by one of the founders of the MoroccanIstiqlal Party, Alal-El Faasi, who openly advocated for Morocco to invade and occupy Ceuta and other North African territories under Spanish rule.[92] Spain, in line with the majority of nations in the rest of the world, has never recognized Morocco's claim over Ceuta. The official position of theSpanish government is that Ceuta is an integral part of Spain, and has been since the 16th century, centuries prior to Morocco's independence from Spain and France in 1956.[93] The majority of Ceuta's population support continued Spanish sovereignty and are opposed to Moroccan control over the territory.[94]
In 1986, Spain joinedNATO. However, Ceuta is not under NATO protection since Article 6 of theNorth Atlantic Treaty limits such coverage to Europe and North America and islands north of theTropic of Cancer. However,French Algeria was explicitly included in the treaty upon France's entry. Legal experts have claimed that other articles of the treaty could cover Spanish territories in North Africa but this interpretation has not been tested in practice.[95] During the2022 Madrid summit, the issue of the protection of Ceuta was raised by Spain, with NATO Secretary GeneralJens 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".[96] On 21 December 2020, following statements made by Moroccan Prime MinisterSaadeddine Othmani that Ceuta is "Moroccan as theSahara", the Spanish government summoned the Moroccan ambassador, Karima Benyaich, to convey that Spain expects all its partners to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its territory in Africa and asked for an explanation for Othmani's words.[97]
^Mommsen, Theodore,The Provinces of the Roman Empire, s.v. "Africa".
^Gibb, Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen; Johannes Hendrik Kramers; Bernard Lewis; Charles Pellat; Joseph Schacht (1994),The Encyclopaedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, p. 690.
^Gold, Peter (2000).Europe or Africa? A contemporary study of the Spanish North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Liverpool University Press. pp. XII–XIII.ISBN0-85323-985-1.
^Castan Pinos, J. (2014). "The Spanish-Moroccan relationship: combining bonne entente with territorial disputes". In K. Stoklosa (ed.).Living on the border. European Border Regions in Comparison. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 103.
^Castan Pinos, J. (2014).La Fortaleza Europea: Schengen, Ceuta y Melilla. Ceuta: Instituto de Estudios Ceutíes. p. 61.ISBN978-84-92627-67-7.
^Tremlett, Giles (12 June 2003)."A rocky relationship".The Guardian. London. Retrieved17 June 2009.
^François Papet-Périn (2012).La mer d'Alboran ou Le contentieux territorial hispano-marocain sur les deux bornes européennes de Ceuta et Melilla (doctorat d'histoire contemporaine soutenue thesis). Paris 1-Sorbonne. 2 volumes.
1 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequentinvasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.
1Entirely claimed by both Morocco and theSADR.2Spanish exclaves claimed by Morocco.3Portuguese archipelago claimed by Spain.4Disputed between Egypt and the Sudan.5Unclaimed territory located between Egypt and the Sudan.6Disputed between South Sudan and the Sudan.7Part of Chad, formerly claimed by Libya.8Disputed between Morocco and Spain
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