Ceuta#Subdivisions

The name Abyla has been said to have been a Punic name ("Lofty Mountain"{{sfnp|Cauvin & al.|1843}} or "Mountain of God") for Jebel Musa,{{sfnp|Bonney & al.|1907|p=26}} the southern Pillar of Hercules.{{sfnp|Smith|1854}} The name of the mountain was in fact Habenna ({{langx|xpu|𐤀𐤁{{popdf}}𐤍{{popdf}}}}, {{lang|xpu-Latn|ʾbn}}, "Stone" or "Stele") or ʾAbin-ḥīq ({{lang|xpu|𐤀𐤁{{popdf}}𐤍𐤇{{popdf}}𐤒}}, {{lang|xpu-Latn|ʾbnḥq}}, "Rock of the Bay"), about the nearby Bay of Benzú.{{harvp|Lipiński|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA422 422–425]}}. The name was hellenized variously as Ápini ({{langx|grc|Ἄπινι}}), Abýla ({{lang|grc|Ἀβύλα}}), Abýlē ({{lang|grc|Ἀβύλη}}), Ablýx ({{lang|grc|Ἀβλύξ}}), and Abilē Stḗlē ({{lang|grc|Ἀβίλη Στήλη}}, "Pillar of Abyla"){{sfnp|Smith|1854}} and in Latin as {{lang|la|Abyla Mons}} ("Mount Abyla") or {{lang|la|Abyla 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"{{sfnp|Smedley & al.|1845|p=49}} ({{langx|grc|Ἑπτάδελφοι|Heptádelphoi}};Ptolemy, Geography, IV.i.5. {{langx|la|Septem Fratres}}).In, e.g., Pomponius Mela. In particular, the Roman stronghold at the site took the name "Fort at the Seven Brothers" ({{lang|la|Castellum ad Septem Fratres}}).{{sfnp|Smith|1854}} This was gradually shortened to Septem{{Cite book |author=Walter E. Kaegi |title=Muslim Expansion and Byzantine Collapse in North Africa |date=4 November 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-19677-2 |page=256}} ({{lang|grc|Σέπτον}} Sépton) or, occasionally, Septum{{Cite book |editor1=John Kitto |editor2=William Lindsay Alexander |title=A Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature |volume=2 |date=1864 |page=350}} or Septa.{{sfnp|Dyer|1873}} These clipped forms continued as Berber Sebta and Arabic Sabtan{{sfnp|Smedley & al.|1845|p=49}} or Sabtah ({{lang|ar|سبتة{{lrm}}}}), which themselves became {{lang|pt|Ceuta}} in Portuguese ({{IPA|pt|ˈseu̯tɐ|pron}}) and Spanish (locally {{IPA|es|ˈseu̯ta|pron}}).

File:Catedral de la Asunción de Ceuta (11).jpg]]

Controlling access between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar is an important military and commercial chokepoint. The Phoenicians realized the extremely narrow isthmus joining the Peninsula of Almina to the African mainland made Ceuta eminently defensible and established an outpost there early in the 1st millennium{{nbsp}}BC. The Greek geographers record it by variations of Abyla, the ancient name of nearby Jebel Musa. Beside Calpe, the other Pillar of Hercules now known as the Rock of Gibraltar, 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, most of northwest Africa was left to the Roman client states of Numidia and{{mdash}}around Abyla{{mdash}}Mauretania. Punic culture continued to thrive in what the Romans knew as "Septem". After the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC, Caesar and his heirs began annexing North Africa directly as Roman provinces but, as late as Augustus, most of Septem's Berber residents continued to speak and write in Punic.

Caligula assassinated the Mauretanian king Ptolemy in AD{{nbsp}}40 and seized his kingdom, which Claudius organized in AD 42, placing Septem in the province of Tingitana and raising it to the level of a colony. It subsequently was Romanized 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 {{nowrap|Theodosius I}} in the late 4th century, Septem still had 10,000 inhabitants, nearly all Christian citizens speaking African Romance, a local dialect of Latin.{{citation |first=Theodore |last=Mommsen |title=The Provinces of the Roman Empire |at=s.v. "Africa" }}.

File:Interior de los Baños Árabes de Ceuta.jpg, built between the 11th and 13th centuries]]

File:Murallas_meriníes_de_Ceuta.jpg, built by order of Abu Sa'id Uthman II in 1328]]

Vandals, probably invited by Count Boniface as protection against the empress dowager, 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 the 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 ({{lang|la|comes}}) 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 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 dynasty.{{citation|first=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen |last=Gibb |author2=Johannes Hendrik Kramers |author3=Bernard Lewis |author4=Charles Pellat |author5=Joseph Schacht |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZXrAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=E.J. Brill |page=690 }}. His great-grandson briefly allied his tribe with the Idrisids, but Banu Isam rule ended in 931{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition|volume=8|title=Sabta|page=690|last=Ferhat|first=Halima|authorlink=Halima Ferhat}}

when he abdicated in favor of Abd ar-Rahman III, the Umayyad ruler of Córdoba, 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, the Almoravid Berbers ruled the region until 1147, when the Almohads conquered the land. Apart from Ibn Hud'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 as well as autonomous rule under the native Banu al-Azafi. The Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance from Aragon.

File:Porto April 2019-7.jpg during the Conquest of Ceuta in azulejos at the São Bento railway station]]

File:Septa (Ceuta) ca 1572.jpg

File:Ceuta fortifications.jpg, built from 962 to the 18th century, and navigable moats]]

On the morning of 21 August 1415, King John I of Portugal led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as the Conquest 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 the flag of Ceuta, which is identical to the flag of Lisbon, but in which the coat of arms derived from that of the Kingdom of Portugal 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 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.{{Cite journal|title=Granada y la expansión portuguesa en el Magreb extremo|first=José Enrique|last=López de Coca Castañer|journal=Historia. Instituciones. Documentos|issn=0210-7716|issue=25|year=1998|page=351|publisher=Universidad de Sevilla|location=Seville|doi=10.12795/hid.1998.i25.018 |s2cid=252936676 |doi-access=free}}

From 1415 to 1437, Pedro de Meneses became the first governor of Ceuta.

The Marinid Sultanate started the 1419 siege but was defeated by the first governor of Ceuta before reinforcements arrived in the form of John, Constable of Portugal and his brother Henry the Navigator, who were sent with troops to defend Ceuta.

Under King John I's son, Duarte, the city of 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 Henry the Navigator and Fernando, the Saint Prince persuaded him to launch an attack on the Marinid sultanate. The resulting Battle 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 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.{{cite web| url = http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne10.pdf| title = Payne, Stanley G., A History of Spain and Portugal, Vol.1, Chap.10 "The Expansion"}}

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 (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.{{cite web|title=Ceuta|url=http://www.fortified-places.com/ceuta/|website=fortified-places.com|access-date=17 September 2015|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017195340/http://www.fortified-places.com/ceuta/|url-status=dead}}

Luís de Camões lived in Ceuta between 1549 and 1551, losing his right eye in battle, which influenced his work of poetry Os Lusíadas.

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

• Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza
• António, Prior of Crato
• Philip II of Spain, uncle of former King Sebastian of Portugal

Philip prevailed and was crowned King Philip I of Portugal in 1581, uniting the two crowns and overseas empires.{{Cite book|last=Kamen|first=Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyWourPR5S8C&pg=PA177|title=Philip of Spain|date=1997|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-07800-8|page=177}}

During the Union with Spain, 1580 to 1640, Ceuta attracted many residents of Spanish origin{{cite book | author=Griffin, H | year=2010 | title=Ceuta Mini Guide | url=http://www.miragebooks.co.uk/ceuta | publisher=Mirage | isbn=978-0-9543335-3-9 | access-date=18 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305205916/http://www.miragebooks.co.uk/ceuta | archive-date=5 March 2012 | url-status=dead }} and became the only city of the Portuguese Empire that sided with Spain when Portugal regained its independence in the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640.

File:Fort of El Desnarigado.jpg

File:Casa de los Dragones, Ceuta, España, 2015-12-10, DD 52.JPG, built in 1905]]

File:Ceuta Turn of the century.jpg

File:Plano-de-la-Ciudad-de-Ceuta-1943.jpg

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.{{cite web |author1=((Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia)) |title=Ceuta |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ceuta |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=24 December 2022}}

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.{{Clarification needed|reason=What?|date=June 2023}} 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.{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Ceuta | volume= 05 | page = 777; see last eight lines}} Disagreements regarding the border of Ceuta resulted in the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60), which ended at the Battle of Tetuán.

In July 1936, General Francisco Franco 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 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.

{{cite web|url=http://www.miragebooks.co.uk/ceuta-guide/ceuta-history.html |title=History of Ceuta |access-date=1 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305205904/http://www.miragebooks.co.uk/ceuta-guide/ceuta-history.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}

The Llano Amarillo monument was erected to honor Francisco Franco; 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_13051.shtml |title=Franco monument now part of a rubbish dump in Ceuta |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207133923/http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_13051.shtml |archive-date=7 December 2012 }}

Following the 1947 Partition of India, a substantial number of Sindhi 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.{{Cite book|url=https://www.pluralismoyconvivencia.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Minor%C3%ADas-religiosas-en-Ceuta-y-en-Melilla.pdf|title=Encuentros. Diversidad religiosa en Ceuta y Melilla|first1=Rafael|last1=Briones|first2=Sol|last2=Tarrés|first3=Óscar|last3=Salguero|publisher=Editorial Pluralismo y Convivencia|isbn=978-84-9888-523-1|page=84|year=2013}}

When Spain recognized the independence of Spanish Morocco in 1956, Ceuta and the other {{lang|es|plazas de soberanía|italic=yes}} 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. It was attached to the province of Cádiz until 1995, the Spanish coast being only 20 km (12.5 miles) away. It is a cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnic Arab-Berber{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Muslim minority as well as Sephardic Jewish and Hindu minorities.

{{cite news |url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Resistir/monte/Renegado/elpepuesp/20090322elpepinac_9/Tes |title=Resistir en el monte del Renegado |work=El País |date=22 March 2009 |access-date=17 June 2009|last1=Bárbulo |first1=Tomás }}

On 5 November 2007, King Juan Carlos I visited the city, sparking great enthusiasm from the local population and protests from the Moroccan government.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.periodistadigital.com/infordeus.php/2007/11/06/p125486 |title=Ceuta y Melilla son España, dice Juan Carlos I; Sebta y Melilia son nuestras, responde Mohamed VI |publisher=Blogs.periodistadigital.com |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=17 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718140213/http://blogs.periodistadigital.com/infordeus.php/2007/11/06/p125486 |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} It was the first time a Spanish head of state had visited Ceuta in 80 years.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2007/12/moro-d06.html |title=Royal visit revives tensions between Spain and Morocco |work=World Socialist Web Site |date=6 December 2007 |access-date=6 January 2022 |last1=Morgan |first1=Marcus |last2=Bond |first2=Paul |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325014211/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2007/12/moro-d06.html |archive-date=25 March 2013}}{{better source needed|date=March 2024}}

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 Spanish ruled territory since the Reconquista.{{cite web|url=http://spainforvisitors.com/module-News-display-sid-310.htm |title=Muslim Holiday in Ceuta and Melilla |publisher=Spainforvisitors.com |access-date=3 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929161344/http://spainforvisitors.com/module-News-display-sid-310.htm |archive-date=29 September 2011 }}{{better source needed|date=March 2024}}{{cite web |url=http://www.qppstudio.net/bankholidays2010/spain.htm |title=Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Spain |publisher=Qppstudio.net |access-date=3 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930174912/http://www.qppstudio.net/bankholidays2010/spain.htm |archive-date=30 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| image1 = Ceuta en.png

| width1 = 320

| caption1 = Map of Ceuta (the Perejil Island, part of Ceuta, is just off the coast, in the upper left of this map)

| image2 = Strait of Gibraltar perspective.jpg

| width2 = 280

| caption2 = Perspective view of the Strait of Gibraltar facing eastwards; Spain and Gibraltar on the left; Morocco and Ceuta on the right. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of 3.

| image3 = Ceuta2022OSM.png

| width3 = 350

| caption3 = A highly detailed map of Ceuta

}}

Ceuta is separated by {{convert|17|km|sp=us|abbr=on|0}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.abcviajes.com/turismo/ceuta_cuatro_mundos_por_descubrir.php|title=Turismo. Ceuta, cuatro mundos por descubrir|website=abcViajes|access-date=1 February 2020}} from the province of Cádiz on the Spanish mainland by the Strait of Gibraltar and it shares a {{convert|6.4|km|sp=us|abbr=on|0}} land border with M'diq-Fnideq Prefecture in the Kingdom of Morocco. It has an area of {{convert|18.5|km2|sqmi acre|sp=us|abbr=on|0}}. 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 overlooking the port is one of the possible locations of the southern pillar of the Pillars of Hercules of Greek legend (the other possibility being Jebel Musa).{{cite book |editor=H. Micheal Tarver |editor2=Emily Slape|title=The Spanish Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LCJDAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA160|volume=I|date=25 July 2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-422-3|page=160}}

The Ceuta Peninsula has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because the site is part of a migratory bottleneck, or choke point, at the western end of the Mediterranean for large numbers of raptors, storks 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.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ceuta-iba-spain|title= Ceuta|author= |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 13 February 2021}}

Ceuta has a maritime-influenced Mediterranean climate, similar to nearby Spanish and Moroccan cities such as Tarifa, Algeciras or Tangiers.{{cite web |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=2306&cityname=Ceuta%2C+Ciudad+Aut%F3noma+de+Ceuta%2C+Spain&units= |title=Ceuta, Spain – Climate Summary |website=weatherbase |access-date=8 December 2014}} The average diurnal temperature variation is relatively low; the average annual temperature is {{convert|18.8|C|F|sp=us|abbr=on}} with average yearly highs of {{convert|21.4|C|F|sp=us|abbr=on}} and lows of {{convert|15.7|C|F|sp=us|abbr=on}} though the Ceuta weather station has only been in operation since 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos?l=5000C&k=ceu |title=Valores climatológicos normales. Ceuta |language=es |trans-title=Normal climate values. Ceuta |publisher=Agencia Estatal de Meteorología |website=AEMET |access-date=11 August 2015}} 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 {{convert|849|mm|in|sp=us|abbr=on}}, which could be considered a humid climate if the summers were not so arid.

{{Weather box

|location = Ceuta, 2003-2010

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C = 23.4

|Feb record high C = 25.5

|Mar record high C = 27.9

|Apr record high C = 28.4

|May record high C = 33.7

|Jun record high C = 35.3

|Jul record high C = 40.2

|Aug record high C = 38.9

|Sep record high C = 34.8

|Oct record high C = 33.1

|Nov record high C = 27.2

|Dec record high C = 25.6

|year record high C = 40.2

|Jan high C = 15.8

|Feb high C = 15.9

|Mar high C = 17.4

|Apr high C = 19.1

|May high C = 21.9

|Jun high C = 25.7

|Jul high C = 28.9

|Aug high C = 28.5

|Sep high C = 25.8

|Oct high C = 22.8

|Nov high C = 18.8

|Dec high C = 16.4

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 13.4

|Feb mean C = 13.7

|Mar mean C = 14.8

|Apr mean C = 16.4

|May mean C = 18.8

|Jun mean C = 22.3

|Jul mean C = 24.9

|Aug mean C = 25.0

|Sep mean C = 22.8

|Oct mean C = 20.2

|Nov mean C = 16.4

|Dec mean C = 14.3

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 11.0

|Feb low C = 11.4

|Mar low C = 12.2

|Apr low C = 13.6

|May low C = 15.7

|Jun low C = 18.8

|Jul low C = 20.9

|Aug low C = 21.5

|Sep low C = 19.8

|Oct low C = 17.5

|Nov low C = 14.0

|Dec low C = 12.1

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = 1.3

|Feb record low C = 4.4

|Mar record low C = 7.2

|Apr record low C = 9.0

|May record low C = 10.5

|Jun record low C = 7.2

|Jul record low C = 16.3

|Aug record low C = 18.0

|Sep record low C = 15.3

|Oct record low C = 12.2

|Nov record low C = 7.4

|Dec record low C = 6.3

|year record low C = 1.3

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 122

|Feb precipitation mm = 145

|Mar precipitation mm = 90

|Apr precipitation mm = 57

|May precipitation mm = 21

|Jun precipitation mm = 3

|Jul precipitation mm = 1

|Aug precipitation mm = 3

|Sep precipitation mm = 37

|Oct precipitation mm = 82

|Nov precipitation mm = 127

|Dec precipitation mm = 161

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 8

|Feb precipitation days = 9

|Mar precipitation days = 6

|Apr precipitation days = 6

|May precipitation days = 4

|Jun precipitation days = 1

|Jul precipitation days = 0

|Aug precipitation days = 0

|Sep precipitation days = 2

|Oct precipitation days = 7

|Nov precipitation days = 7

|Dec precipitation days = 10

|year precipitation days =

|Jan humidity =72

|Feb humidity =75

|Mar humidity =68

|Apr humidity =71

|May humidity =66

|Jun humidity =67

|Jul humidity =61

|Aug humidity =70

|Sep humidity =72

|Oct humidity =75

|Nov humidity =73

|Dec humidity =73

|year humidity =

|source 1 = Agencia Estatal de Meteorología

{{cite web|url=http://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/efemerides_extremos*?w=0&k=ceu&l=5000C&datos=det&x=5000C&m=13&v=todos |title=Valores extremos. Ceuta – Selector |publisher=Agencia Estatal de Meteorología |website=AEMET |language=es |trans-title=Extreme values. Ceuta{{Snd}} Selector |access-date=16 August 2016}}

}}

File:Palacio de la Asamblea de Ceuta.jpg.]]

Since 1995, Ceuta is, along with Melilla, one of the two autonomous cities of Spain.{{cite web|url=http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/lo1-1995.html|title=Ley Orgánica 1/1995, de 13 de marzo, Estatuto de Autonomía de Ceuta|publisher=Noticias.juridicas.com|language=es|access-date=17 June 2009}}

Ceuta is known officially in Spanish as {{lang|es|Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta}} (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.

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. {{as of|2011}}, 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 (4) and the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, 3).{{cite web |url=http://resultados.elpais.com/elecciones/2011/municipales/18/ |title=Resultados Electorales en Ceuta: Elecciones Municipales 2011 en EL PAÍS |publisher=EDICIONES EL PAÍS S.L. |date=2011 |language=es |access-date=16 August 2016}}

Owing to its small population, Ceuta elects only one member of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament). {{As of|November 2019|pre=the}} election, this post is held by María Teresa López of Vox.{{cite web|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/286616/ceuta-far-right-vox-spanish-elections/|title=Ceuta Votes for Far-Right Vox Party in Spanish General Elections|website=Morocco World News|language=en|date=11 November 2019|access-date=28 January 2020}}

Ceuta is subdivided into 63 {{lang|es|barriadas}} ("neighborhoods"), such as Barriada de Berizu, Barriada de P. Alfonso, Barriada del Sarchal, and El Hacho.{{cite web|url=http://www.elpueblodeceuta.es/200708/20070819/200708195101.html |title=El servicio de Policia de Barriadas podria funcionar a partir del 15 de septiembre |language=es |trans-title=The Police Service of Barriadas could work from September 15 |website=El Pueblo de Ceuta |access-date=17 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720140539/http://www.elpueblodeceuta.es/200708/20070819/200708195101.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.planetware.com/i/map/MAR/ceuta-map.jpg |title=Map of Ceuta |website=planetware}}{{cite web |url=http://codigo-postal.info/ceuta/ceuta?page=7 |title=Códigos postales de Ceuta en Ceuta |publisher=Codigo-postal.info |access-date=17 June 2009 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328070137/http://www.codigo-postal.info/ceuta/ceuta?page=7 |url-status=dead }}

Ceuta maintains its own police force.

The defence of the enclave is the responsibility of the Spanish Armed Forces' General Command of Ceuta (COMGECEU).{{Cite web|title=Comandancia General de Ceuta|url=https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/en/unidades/Ceuta/comge_ceuta/Organizacion/index.html|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Spanish Ministry of Defence | language=es}} The Spanish Army'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{{Cite web|date=2022-07-19|title=Los ceutíes conocen las unidades acorazadas de 'Montesa nº3'|url=https://elfarodeceuta.es/jornada-puertas-abiertas-ceuties-unidades-acorazadas-montesa/|access-date=2023-01-14|website=El Faro de Ceuta|language=es}}
• 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;{{Cite web|title=Regimiento De Artilleria Mixto Nº30|url=https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/en/unidades/Ceuta/ramix30/Historial/index.html|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Spanish Ministry of Defence | language=es}}{{pb}}{{Cite web|title=Contenido - Army|url=https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/en/unidades/Ceuta/ramix30/Organizacion/index.html|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Spanish Ministry of Defence | language=es}} and
• 7th Engineer Regiment

The command also includes its headquarters battalion as well as logistics elements.

In 2023, the Spanish Navy replaced the Aresa-class patrol boat P-114 in the territory with the Rodman-class patrol boat Isla de León.{{Cite web|title=El nuevo patrullero de la Armada Española que vigilará Ceuta y el Estrecho de Gibraltar|url=https://www.outono.net/elentir/2023/02/01/el-nuevo-patrullero-de-la-armada-espanola-que-vigilara-ceuta-y-el-estrecho-de-gibraltar/|website=Defensa Aviacion}}{{pb}}{{Cite web|title=Patrol Boat P-114|url=https://armada.defensa.gob.es/ArmadaPortal/page/Portal/ArmadaEspannola/buquessuperficie/prefLang-en/08patrulleros--07patrulleros-vigilancia-costera--02patrullero-vigilancia-costera-p-114|date=2020|website=Armada Española|access-date=28 August 2023|archive-date=26 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226071423/https://armada.defensa.gob.es/ArmadaPortal/page/Portal/ArmadaEspannola/buquessuperficie/prefLang-en/08patrulleros--07patrulleros-vigilancia-costera--02patrullero-vigilancia-costera-p-114|url-status=bot: unknown}}

Ceuta itself is only {{cvt|113|km}} distant from the main Spanish naval base at Rota on the Spanish mainland. The Spanish Air Force's Morón Air Base is also within {{cvt|135|km}} proximity.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The Civil Guard 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.{{Cite news|date=2021-05-18|title=Ceuta: Spain sends troops as 8,000 migrants enter enclave|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57156320|access-date=2023-01-14}}{{pb}}{{Cite web|last=Guerraoui|first=Saad|date=2021-06-12|title=Spanish report warns of Morocco's 'hybrid strategies' to annex Ceuta, Melilla|url=https://middle-east-online.com/en/spanish-report-warns-morocco%25E2%2580%2599s-%25E2%2580%2598hybrid-strategies%25E2%2580%2599-annex-ceuta-melilla|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Middle East Online|language=en}}

File:Jebel musa from benzu.jpg, as viewed from Benzú. It is also known as the 'Dead Woman' because of its silhouette.]]

The official currency of Ceuta is the euro. It is part of a special low tax zone in Spain.{{cite web |url=http://www.ceuta.es/servlet/ContentServer?idioma=es_es&mD=true&pagename=CeutaTur%2FInformacionViajero%2FInformacionViajeroDetalle&cid=1113994915129&mC=true&idP=1111055969345&idA=1113994915129 |title=Economic Data of Ceuta, de ceutna digital |publisher=Ceuta.es |access-date=17 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410134201/http://www.ceuta.es/servlet/ContentServer?idioma=es_es&mD=true&pagename=CeutaTur%2FInformacionViajero%2FInformacionViajeroDetalle&cid=1113994915129&mC=true&idP=1111055969345&idA=1113994915129 |archive-date=10 April 2010 |url-status=dead}} Ceuta is one of two Spanish port cities on the northern shore of Africa, along with Melilla. They are historically military strongholds, free ports, oil ports, and also fishing ports.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuBgaSzsYVgC&q=ceuta+economy |pages=6–7 |title=IBRU, Boundary and Territory Briefing. Ceuta and the Spanish Sovereign Territories: Spanish and Moroccan |access-date=17 June 2009 |isbn=9781897643068 |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Gerry |last2=O'Reilly |first2=J. G. |year=1994 }} Today the economy of the city depends heavily on its port (now in expansion) and its industrial and retail centres. Ceuta Heliport is now used to connect the city to mainland Spain by air. Lidl, Decathlon 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. The Moroccan dirham is used in such trade, even though prices are marked in euros.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thelocal.es/20171006/morocco-mule-women-in-back-breaking-trade-from-spain-enclave|title=Morocco 'mule women' in back-breaking trade from Spain enclave|date=6 October 2017|access-date=11 May 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.worldfinance.com/markets/separate-from-the-rest|title=The economics of exclaves|date=24 April 2018|access-date=11 May 2018|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/moroccan-women-used-as-mules-to-avoid-tariffs/av-43736166|title=Moroccan women used as 'mules' to avoid tariffs {{!}} DW {{!}} 11 May 2018|last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|website=DW.COM|language=en|access-date=11 May 2018}}

The city's Port of Ceuta is connected to the Port of Algeciras across the Strait of Gibraltar by multiple daily sailings of ferries.

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 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.

The following hospitals are located within Ceuta:Google Maps{{cite web|url=https://www.hospitalsworldguide.com/hospitals-in-spain/s-hospitals-in-ceuta/|title=Hospitals in Ceuta|website=Hospitals Worldguide|access-date=8 July 2020}}

• University Hospital of Ceuta, established in 2010, 252 beds{{cite web|url=http://www.areasanitariaceuta.es/atencion-especializada/hospital-universitario-de-ceuta/|title=Hospital Universitario de Ceuta|access-date=8 July 2020}}
• Primary Care Emergency Services Jose Lafont
• Ceuta Medical Centre
• Spanish Military Hospital (500 beds in 1929, 2020 listed as a clinic){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVXXAAAAMAAJ|title=Port Directory of Principal Foreign Ports|year=1929}}{{cite web|url=https://military-medicine.com/almanac/115-spain-kingdom-of.html|title=Military Medicine in Spain|website=Military Medicine|access-date=8 July 2020}}

File:Ceuta population pyramid.svg

{{Historical populations|1842|3056|1857|7114|1877|10683|1887|12835|1900|13843|1910|24249|1920|35453|1930|50293|1940|65982|1950|58909|1960|64728|1970|62607|1981|65264|1991|73208|2001|71505|2011|83517|2021|84071|source=National Statistics Institute{{cite web|title=Changes in the municipalities in the population census since 1842|url=https://www.ine.es/intercensal/inicio.do|publisher=National Statistics Institute|language=es}}|align=right|cols=1}}As of 2024, its population was 83,299.{{cite web |date= |title=Cifras oficiales de población de los municipios españoles en aplicación de la Ley de Bases del Régimen Local (Art. 17) |url=https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?L=1&t=2908& |url-status=live |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=ine.es}}

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.{{cite journal |last=Roa |first=J. M. | year=2006 | title=Scholastic achievement and the diglossic situation in a sample of primary-school students in Ceuta | journal=Revista Electrónica de Investigación Educativa |volume=8 |number=1 | url=http://redie.uabc.mx/index.php/redie/article/download/124/216}} As of a 2018 estimate, around 67.8% of the city's population were born in Ceuta.{{Cite web|last=Redacción|title=El 67,8% de los habitantes actuales de Ceuta han nacido en la ciudad según los datos del INE|url=https://ceutaahora.com//art/574/el-678-de-los-habitantes-actuales-de-ceuta-han-nacido-en-la-ciudad-segun-los-datos-del-ine|access-date=2 September 2021|website=Ceuta Ahora|date=20 December 2018 |language=es}}

Spanish is the primary and official language of the enclave.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/spanish.shtml|title=Languages Across Europe – Spanish|date=14 October 2014|website=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405160301/http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/spanish.shtml|archive-date=5 April 2018}} Moroccan Arabic (Darija) is widely spoken.{{Cite book|title=The Handbook of Hispanic Sociolinguistics|last=Sayahi|first=Lotfi|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4051-9500-3|editor-last=Díaz-Campos|editor-first=Manuel|location=Chichester, UK|pages=476–477|chapter=Spanish in Contact with Arabic|doi=10.1002/9781444393446.ch22}} In 2021, the Council of Europe demanded that Spain formally recognize the language by 2023.{{Cite web |last=Goff |first=Shaquile |title=Council of Europe Demands Ceuta, Melilla Recognize Arabic, Darija by 2023 |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/08/344129/council-of-europe-demands-ceuta-melilla-recognize-arabic-darija-by-2023 |access-date=26 May 2022 |website=Morocco World News |language=en}}

File:Restos de la Basílica Tardorromana de Ceuta.jpg

File:Catedral de Ceuta, Ceuta, España, 2015-12-10, DD 04.JPG, completed in 1726]]

Christianity has been present in Ceuta continuously from late antiquity, as evidenced by the ruins of a basilica in downtown Ceuta{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/1378720 |title=Ceuta huellas del cristianismo en Ceuta |first=Fernando |last=Villada |website=academia.edu |access-date=10 September 2017}} and accounts of the martyrdom of St. Daniel Fasanella and his Franciscans in 1227 during the Almohad Caliphate.

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 present form of the cathedral dates to refurbishments undertaken in the late 17th century, combining baroque and neoclassical elements. It was dedicated to St{{nbsp}}Mary of the Assumption in 1726.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ceuta was established in 1417. It incorporated the suppressed Diocese of Tanger in 1570.{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14736a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Tingis |publisher=Newadvent.org |date=1 July 1912 |access-date=8 August 2010}} The Diocese of Ceuta was a suffragan of Lisbon until 1675, when it became a suffragan of Seville.{{Catholic-hierarchy|diocese|dc206|Diocese of Ceuta|21 January 2015}} Wikipedia:SPS 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;{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03131b.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Cadiz |publisher=Newadvent.org |date=1 November 1908 |access-date=8 August 2010}} the union was not actually accomplished, however, until 1879.

Small Jewish and Hindu minorities are also present in the city.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2014/10/ceuta-multicultural-city-201410149410385913.html|title=Ceuta: Multicultural city|website=Al Jazeera |access-date=28 April 2020|archive-date=29 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129174034/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2014/10/ceuta-multicultural-city-201410149410385913.html|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Ceuta border fence}}

Like Melilla, 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 {{convert|6|m|sp=us|abbr=on}} 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.{{cite news|title=Hundreds of migrants storm fence to reach Spanish enclave of Ceuta|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39002111|publisher=BBC|date=17 February 2017}}

The University of Granada offers undergraduate programmes 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 Programme.{{Clarify|reason=In what languages?|date=November 2022}}

• Qadi Ayyad (1083 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 1149) born in Ceuta, then belonging to the Almoravids was the great imam of that city
• Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 1165 in Ceuta) was a Muslim geographer, cartographer and Egyptologist. He lived in Palermo at the court of King Roger II of Sicily, known for the {{Lang|la|Tabula Rogeriana}}.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Idrisi |volume= 14 |last= Beazley |first= Charles Raymond |author-link= Charles Raymond Beazley | pages = 289-290 |short= 1}}
• Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti (1129 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 1204 in Marrakesh) the main Wali of Marrakesh
• Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta ({{Circa|1160}}{{Snd}} 1226) a Jewish physician and poet, and disciple of Moses Maimonides
• Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi (1162 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 1236) a religious and legal scholar, member of the Banu al-Azafi who ruled Ceuta
• Mohammed ibn Rushayd (1259 in Sabta{{Snd}} 1321) a judge, writer and scholar of Hadith
• Álvaro of Braganza (1440–1504) a president of Council of Castile.
• George Camocke (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{{Snd}} 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{{Snd}} 1813 in Lima, Peru) a Spanish soldier and Royal Governor of Chile
• Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan (1757 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 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{{Snd}} 1853 in Madrid) a Spanish general of the First Carlist War who backed Isabella II of Spain

• General Francisco Llano de la Encomienda (1879 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 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{{Snd}} executed 1940 in Barcelona), a Spanish military officer
• África de las Heras Gavilán (1909 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 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 {{Cite web|title=Eugenio Martín|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0554632/|access-date=2023-01-14|website=IMDb|language=en-US}}{{user-generated inline|date=August 2023}}
• Jacob Hassan, PhD (1936 in Ceuta{{Snd}} 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 (born 1947 in Ceuta), a Spanish artist, thought by some to be an expressionist painter
• Ignacio Velázquez Rivera (born 1953), first Mayor-President of Melilla
• 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 {{Cite web|title=Eva Isanta|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0410706/|access-date=2023-01-14|website=IMDb|language=en-US}}{{user-generated inline|date=August 2023}}
• Mohamed Taieb Ahmed (born 1975 in Ceuta), a Spanish-Moroccan drug lord {{cite web|url=http://www.interviu.es/reportajes/articulos/vuelve-el-nene|title=Vuelve 'El Nene'|date=14 January 2008|website=Interviu|language=es|access-date=20 October 2017|archive-date=11 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911075451/http://www.interviu.es/reportajes/articulos/vuelve-el-nene|url-status=dead}} responsible for trafficking hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar and into Spain.
• {{Ill|Gonzalo Campos López|lt=Gonzalo Campos López|de}} (born 1991 in Ceuta), a Spanish musical performer working in Germany

• Francisco Lesmes (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 (born 1950), a sprint canoer, silver medallist at the 1976 Summer Olympics
• 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 (born 1991 in Ceuta), a Spanish female water polo player, silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
• Anuar Tuhami (born 1995 in Ceuta), a Spanish-Moroccan footballer, played one game for Morocco

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Spain}}

Ceuta is twinned with:

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

• Aci Catena, Italy{{Cite web|url=http://femp.femp.es/files/566-1113-archivo/LISTADO%20HERMANAMIENTOS%20CON%20EUROPA.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003124430/http://femp.femp.es/files/566-1113-archivo/LISTADO%20HERMANAMIENTOS%20CON%20EUROPA.pdf |archive-date=2017-10-03 |url-status=live|title=Listado de corporaciones locales españolas hermanadas con Europa|publisher=Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces}}
• Algeciras, Spain (since 1997){{Cite journal|url=https://www.europasur.es/algeciras/Ceuta-Algeciras-lustros-ciudades-hermanadas_0_612838954.html|journal=Europa Sur|date=5 August 2012|first=Carlos|last=Corrales|title=Ceuta y Algeciras, tres lustros como ciudades hermanadas}}
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Cádiz, Spain (since 2007){{Cite journal|journal=Diario de Cádiz|url=https://www.diariodecadiz.es/cadiz/Cadiz-familia-numerosa_0_297570545.html|date=19 September 2009|first=Pablo Manuel|last=Durio|title=Cádiz tiene ya una familia más que numerosa}}
• Melilla, Spain{{cite news |title=Ceuta, Melilla profile |work=BBC News |date=14 December 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14114627 |access-date=18 October 2020}}
• Santarém, Portugal{{Cite journal|url=http://www.elpueblodeceuta.com/200711/20071127/200711275107.html|title=Vivas visitará el jueves la Casa de Ceuta en Cádiz antes de regresar|first=Luis|last=Parodi|date=27 November 2007|journal=El Pueblo de Ceuta}}

{{div col end}}

{{See also|Greater Morocco}}

The Moroccan government has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta, Melilla and the plazas de soberanía to Morocco, with Spain's refusal to do so serving as a major source of tension in Morocco–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, are colonies.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-57305882 | title=Ceuta and Melilla: Spain's enclaves in North Africa | work=BBC News | date=4 June 2021 }}{{Cite book|title=Europe or Africa? A contemporary study of the Spanish North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=0-85323-985-1|year=2000|pages=XII–XIII|first=Peter|last=Gold}} 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 an exclave surrounded by Moroccan territory and the Mediterranean Sea and has no territorial continuity with the rest of Spain.{{ cite book | last=Castan Pinos | first= J. |date=2014 | chapter=The Spanish-Moroccan relationship: combining bonne entente with territorial disputes | editor=K. Stoklosa |title= Living on the border. European Border Regions in Comparison |page= 103 | place=Abingdon | publisher= Routledge}} This argument was originally developed by one of the founders of the Moroccan Istiqlal Party, Alal-El Faasi, who openly advocated for Morocco to invade and occupy Ceuta and other North African territories under Spanish rule.{{ cite book | last=Castan Pinos|first= J. |date=2014 | title= La Fortaleza Europea: Schengen, Ceuta y Melilla|place= Ceuta|publisher= Instituto de Estudios Ceutíes|page= 61 |isbn=978-84-92627-67-7}} 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 the Spanish 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/jun/12/worlddispatch.gibraltar |title=A rocky relationship |work=The Guardian|date= 12 June 2003|access-date=17 June 2009 | location=London | first=Giles | last=Tremlett}} The majority of Ceuta's population support continued Spanish sovereignty and are opposed to Moroccan control over the territory.{{cite thesis| author= François Papet-Périn | title=La mer d'Alboran ou Le contentieux territorial hispano-marocain sur les deux bornes européennes de Ceuta et Melilla | id= 2 volumes | degree= doctorat d'histoire contemporaine soutenue | date= 2012 |institution= Paris 1-Sorbonne }}

In 1986, Spain joined NATO. However, Ceuta is not under NATO protection since Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty limits such coverage to Europe and North America and islands north of the Tropic 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.{{cite web |title=¿Están Ceuta y Melilla bajo el paraguas de la OTAN? |url=https://www.newtral.es/ceuta-melilla-otan-expertos/20211002/ |website=Newtral |access-date=25 February 2022 |language=es |date=2 October 2021 |author=Thess Móstoles}} During the 2022 Madrid summit, the issue of the protection of Ceuta was raised by Spain, 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".{{Cite web|title=Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government (2022 NATO Summit)|url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_197301.htm|access-date=2023-01-14|website=NATO|language=en | date= 30 June 2022 | author1= Jens Stoltenberg | author1-link=Jens Stoltenberg | type=transcript}} On 21 December 2020, following statements made by Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani that Ceuta is "Moroccan as the Sahara", 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.{{Cite web|work=elDiario.es|date=21 December 2020|title=España convoca a la embajadora de Marruecos por unas declaraciones de su primer ministro sobre Ceuta y Melilla|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-convoca-embajadora-marruecos-declaraciones-ceuta-melilla_1_6523031.html|access-date=22 December 2020|language=es}}{{pb}}{{cite web|date=22 December 2020|title=Moroccan Ambassador to Spain summoned over calls for territorial sovereignty talks|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/22/moroccan-ambassador-to-spain-summoned-over-calls-for-territorial-sovereignty-talks/|access-date=22 December 2020|website=AfricaNews|language=en}}

• AD Ceuta FC, football club
• Hotel Tryp Ceuta
• Porteadoras – mule ladies, bale workers
• Spanish Morocco
• European enclaves in North Africa before 1830

{{portal|Spain}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

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• {{citation |last=Dyer |first=Thomas H. |editor=William Smith |display-editors=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3gPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP9 |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |volume=II |location=London |publisher=John Murray |date=1873 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3gPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA965 |page=965 |contribution=Septem Fratres }}.
• {{citation |last=Lipiński |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Lipinski (orientalist) |title=Itineraria Phoenicia |series=Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, No.{{nbsp}}127, Studia Phoenicia, Vol.{{nbsp}}XVIII |publisher=Uitgeverij Peeters |location=Leuven |date=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC |isbn=9789042913448 }}.
• {{citation |editor-last=Smedley |editor-first=Edward |editor2=Hugh James Rose |editor3=Henry John Rose |display-editors=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1I_AQAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopaedia Metropolitana |volume=XXII |location=London |publisher=B. Fellowes & al. |date=1845 |contribution=Mauritania |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1I_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA48 |pages=48–49 |ref={{harvid|Smedley & al.|1845}} }}.
• {{citation |last=Smith |first=Philip |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |editor=William Smith |display-editors=0 |location=London |publisher=Walton & Maberly |date=1854 |contribution=Abyla |contribution-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=abyla-geo&highlight=abyla }}.

{{Commons category|Ceuta}}

{{Wikivoyage|Ceuta}}

• {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Ceuta |short=x}}
• {{in lang|es}} [http://www.ceuta.es/ Official Ceuta government website]
• [https://turismodeceuta.com/ Ceuta tourism website]

{{Ceuta}}

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