05/08/2026
🇪🇸Welcome to Ceuta, one of the most talked about pieces of land in the world. This tiny Spanish city sits on the African continent, just 14 kilometres from mainland Spain and only an hour away by ferry!
Curious to see what life was really like here, I decided to visit for myself. I found palm lined streets, beautiful cafés, historic forts, castles and incredible weather, but it is also at the centre of one of Europe’s most significant migration routes. In recent days, around 60,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta from Morocco during an unprecedented surge. That’s crazy considering the city has a population of only around 85,000 people. After spending a day exploring this fascinating place, I decided to cross the infamous border into Morocco. And that’s where I’ll leave you until tomorrow 👀
Brief history of the land as I understand it. Why is Ceuta Spanish and not Moroccan? 🇲🇦
Officially, Ceuta was never part of the modern Moroccan state. It was captured by Portugal in 1415 and became Spanish in 1580. Before that, it passed through the hands of many different civilizations, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines and various Muslim dynasties, with its history stretching back to around 700 BC. Long before any of these empires arrived, the region was inhabited by Amazigh peoples, the Indigenous inhabitants of North Africa. They lived in many different tribes and kingdoms across the region rather than a single unified state. This is a simplified overview of more than 2,700 years of history, but it helps explain why the question of Ceuta’s sovereignty remains so complex and so fiercely debated today.
Do you think Ceuta should remain part of Spain, or do you think it should become part of Morocco?
