Ceuta

Ceuta (, ) is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish exclave Melilla are the only Spanish territories located in mainland Africa. It was regarded as a part of Cadiz province prior to 14 March 1995, when the city's Statute of Autonomy was passed.

Ceuta (like Melilla) was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2008 it has a population of 75,276. Its population consists of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Berber), and small minorities of Jews. Both Spanish and Riff Berber are widely spoken. Spanish is the official language, while there have been calls to recognize Berber as well.

Morocco claims Ceuta, along with the Spanish autonomous city of Melilla and a number of Mediterranean islands which border it.

History

Its location has made Ceuta an important commercial trade and military way-point for many cultures, beginning with the Carthaginians in the 5th century BC, who called the city Abyla. It was not until the Romans took control of the region in A.D. 42 that the port city, then named Septa, assumed an almost exclusive military purpose. It changed hands again approximately 400 years later, when Vandal tribes ousted the Romans. It then fell into the hands of the Visigoths, and finally become an outpost of the Byzantine Empire.

Around 710, as Muslim armies approached the city, its Byzantine governor, Julian (described as King of the Ghomara) changed his allegiance, and exhorted the Muslims to invade the Iberian Peninsula. Under the leadership of Berber General Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Muslims used Ceuta as a staging ground for an assault on Visigothic Spain. After Julian's death, the Arabs took direct control of the city, something that the indigenous Berber tribes resented. They destroyed Ceuta during the Kharijite rebellion led by Maysara al-Haqir in 740.

Ceuta lay in ruins until it was resettled in the 9th century by Mâjakas, chief of the Majkasa Berber tribe, who started the short-lived Banu Isam dynasty. His great-grandson would briefly ally his tribe with the Idrisids, but the Banu Isam rule ended in 931 when he abdicated in favor of the Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman III. Ceuta reverted to Hispanic Andalusian rule in 927, along with Melilla, and laterTangier, in 951.

Chaos ensued with the fall of the Umayyad caliphate in 1031, but eventually Ceuta and the rest of Muslim Spain fell into the hands of successive North African dynasties. Starting in 1084, the Almoravid Berbers ruled the region until 1147, when the Almohads who conquered the land and ruled, apart from Ibn Hud's rebellion of 1232, until theTunisian Hafsids established their 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 Kingdom of Fez and the Kingdom of Granada. The Kingdom of Fez finally conquered the region in 1387, with assistance from the Crown of Aragon.

(1415-1769).]] In 1415, during the Battle of Ceuta, the city was captured by the Portuguese during the reign of John I of Portugal. The King of Spain seized the Portuguese throne in 1580 and held it for 60 years ( Iberian Union ). During this time Ceuta gained many residents of Spanish origin. Thus Ceuta became the only city of the Portuguese Empire that sided with Spain when Portugal regained its independence in 1640 and war broke out between the two countries.

The formal allegiance of Ceuta to Spain was recognized by the Treaty of Lisbon by which, on January 1, 1668, King Afonso VI of Portugal formally ceded Ceuta to Carlos II of Spain. However, the originally Portuguese flag and coat of arms of Ceuta remained unchanged and the modern-day Ceuta flag features the configuration of the Portuguese shield. The flag's background is also the same as that of the flag of Lisbon.

When Spain recognized the independence of Spanish Morocco in 1956, Ceuta and the other plazas de soberanía remained under Spanish rule as they were considered integral parts of the Spanish state - which Morocco strongly disputed. Culturally, modern Ceuta is part of the Spanish region of Andalusia. Indeed, it was attached to the province of Cádiz until 1925 — the Spanish coast being only 20 km away. It is a cosmopolitan city, with a large ethnic Berber Muslim minority as well as Sephardic Jewish and Hindu minorities.

On November 5, 2007, King Juan Carlos I 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.

Ceuta (and Melilla) have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday from 2010 onwards. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival is officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista.

Ecclesiastical history

The Catholic Diocese of Ceuta existed from 1417 to 1879. It was a suffragan of the Patriarchate of Lisbon until 1675, with the end of the Iberian Union, when Ceuta chose to remain linked to the king of Spain. Since then it was a suffragan of the archbishopric of Seville. The Diocese of Tanger was suppressed and incorporated to that of Ceuta in 1570.

In 1851, upon the signature of the concordat between the Holy See and Spain, the diocese of Ceuta was agreed to be suppressed, being combined into the diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta (up to then diocese of Cádiz y Algeciras), whose bishop usually was the apostolic administrator of Ceuta. The agreement was not implemented until 1879.

Geography

Ceuta is dominated by Monte Anyera, a hill along its western frontier with Morocco. The mountain is guarded by a Spanish fort.

Monte Hacho on the Peninsula de Almina overlooking the port is one of the possible locations for the southern Pillars of Hercules, of Greek legend (the other possibility being Jebel Musa).

Climate

Human geography

Ceuta is known officially in Spanish as Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta (), with a rank between a standard Spanish city 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 European Monetary System. As of 2006, its population was 75,861.

Ceuta does not have an airport. There is, however, a regular helicopter service from Ceuta Heliport linking it to Málaga Airport. All other access to and from Ceuta is by ferry or land.

Ceuta is subdivided into 63 barriadas (), such as Barriada de Berizu, Barriada de P. Alfonso, Barriada del Sarchal, and El Hacho.

Political status

Since 1995, Ceuta is, along with Melilla, one of the two autonomous cities of Spain.

The government of Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, along with uninhabited islets such as the islands of Alhuceima, Velez and the Perejil island, drawing comparisons with Spain's territorial claim to Gibraltar. In both cases, the national governments and local populations of the disputed territories reject these claims by a large majority. The Spanish position states that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of the Spanish state, and have been since the 15th century, centuries prior to Morocco's independence from Spain in 1956, whereas Gibraltar, being a British Overseas Territory, is not and never has been part of the United Kingdom. Morocco denies these claims and maintains that the Spanish presence in Ceuta and the other presidios on its coast is a remnant of the colonial past which should be ended. However, the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories do not consider those Spanish territories to be colonies, whereas it does declare Gibraltar as a non-decolonized territory.

Twin towns — sister cities

Ceuta is twinned with: Aci Catena, Italy Algeciras, Spain Cádiz, Spain Guadalajara, Mexico Melilla, Spain Santarém, Portugal

Economy

and the European Union.]] The official currency of Ceuta is the euro. It is part of a special low tax zone in Spain. Ceuta is one of two Spanish port cities on the northern shore of Africa, along with Melilla. They are historically military strongholds, free ports, oil ports, and also fishing and smuggling centers. 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.

Along with Melilla, Ceuta is the main link to and from the plazas de soberanía, especially the Islas Chafarinas, occupied by Spain during the 19th century.

Transport

The city receives high numbers of ferries each day, most from Spain. Occasionally, cruise ships stop by. Most all dock within an easy walk of downtown shops and restaurants.

Ceuta is a tiny city and the best way to travel may be by bicycle or on foot. There are taxis available. There is a bus service with modern and spacious buses running around the city with stops at the border with Morocco.

Churches

Parroquia De Santa Maria De Los Remedios

Comunidad Israelita De Ceuta

Parroquia De San Francisco

Santa Iglesia Catedral

Parroquia Santa Maria De Africa — Casa Parroquial

Vicaria General Del Obispado De Ceuta

Parroquia Santa Teresa De Jesus De Ceuta

Schools

Colegio Público José Ortega y Gasset

Instituto de Educación Secundaria Siete Colinas

Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Andrés Manjón

Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Lope De Vega

Centro de Educación Infantil Globitos

Instituto de Educación Secundaria Puertas del Campo

Colegio Sta. María Micaela

Instituto de Educación Secundaria Almina

Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Maestro José Acosta

Colegio Severo Ochoa

Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Santiago Ramón y Cajal

See also

Benzú

Ceuta border fence

Rock of Gibraltar

References

External links

- Turismo Ceuta Information on the history of Ceuta Official Ceuta government website Official Expoceuta website

Time Magazine: Al-Qaeda Eyes Spain's 'Lost City'

Spain's North African enclaves

Documentary about illegal immigrants trying to reach Ceuta from Morocco

Satellite image of Ceuta

Images of Ceuta

A brief history of Ceuta

Category:Autonomous communities of Spain Category:Exclaves Category:Former Portuguese colonies Category:Mediterranean port cities and towns in Spain Category:Morocco–Spain border crossings Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Category:Port cities in Africa Category:Special territories of the European Union Category:States and territories established in 1995 Category:Territorial disputes of Morocco Category:Territorial disputes of Spain