At the foot of one of the two fabled Pillars of Hercules – Mont Hacho being the one and Gibraltar the other – Ceuta perches on the sandy isthmus connecting Monte Hacho to mainland Morocco, gazing on spectacular blue sea, from surf to Spain. The town has had a great many occupiers, Roman, Visigoth, Berber, Umayyad, Almohad, Portugese, and finally Spaniards. Its strategic positioning made it a prize territory and military launching point from very early on. Beginning its history as Abyla, when the Carthaginians conquered in the 5th century, the port was later named Septum by the Romans. In the middle ages, Ceuta harbored merchant trade ships from around the Mediterranean.

Today, Ceuta is one of two remaining fragments of Spanish North Africa, and in most recent times, Morocco made a decision to reclaim possession of the town and Melila. The town in deed has two distinctive personalities. While the eastern zone reveals a typically Spanish flavor, the western district is very much Moroccan in all things. Despite ongoing negotiations between the two countries, the breezy Andalusian enclave continues to offer an overall-pleasant beach-side holiday and some very pretty, pastel-painted architecture.