Ceuta is an 18.5-square-kilometre autonomous city of Spain, situated on the north coast of Africa and sharing a western border with Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta, along with the Spanish exclave Melilla, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish territories in mainland Africa. Ceuta has a population of 82,376, consisting of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Arabic and Berber speakers), and small minorities of Jews and Indian Hindus. Spanish is the official language. The majority of the city's population is officially said to be ethnic Spanish who are opposed to the idea of being ruled by Morocco. However, our taxi driver (born in Bradford, England) thought that around 75% of the current population is Muslim.

The city became Spanish around the time of El Cid (remember the film?) as part of a plan to prevent Spain being occupied by Berber/Muslim armies. It gave Spain a permanent foothold in Africa and a port from which they could exercise greater control over sea traffic entering the Mediterranean. There is a very noticeable Spanish armed forces presence in the city. It's worth comparing Spain's interests in Ceuta with Britain's interests in Gibraltar.

Ceuta is about 22K from Gibraltar and the boat trip back only took about 90 minutes as the sea was quite calm.

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