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We all know Spain for its lovely shoreline, vibrant metropolises the place trendy city-building goes hand in hand with custom and architectural magnificence, and, properly, that impossible to resist Southern European aptitude: there’s simply no beating cobbled Old Towns and $5 tapas.
What some could not know, nonetheless, is that Spain shouldn’t be restricted to Europe solely: although this will likely sound odd, there are a variety of Spanish territories exterior the Old Continent which might be each bit as a part of Spain as Madrid, Barcelona, and the like are.
One of these is Ceuta, an autonomous metropolis situated throughout the Mediterranean Sea in Africa!
You learn that proper: there’s a Spanish-administered exclave on the North Coast of the neighboring continent, and in the event you’re on the lookout for these crowd-free seashores and sudden adventures, you will wish to learn this:
Where Even Is Ceuta?
Unless you zoom in on a selected space of Morocco’s map, you are unlikely to note the small, 7-square-mile peninsula lining the Mediterranean, separated from the Muslim-majority nation by a skinny, barely discernible borderline.
That’s Ceuta, a fortified port metropolis belonging to Spain, although it shares land borders with an African nation.
The History of the Mediterranean is an extended––and tedious one, for some––involving many an increase and fall of empires and the redrawing of borders.
Ceuta itself was based in some unspecified time in the future within the 1st millennium BC, when Carthaginian and Roman cultures had been at their peak.
It went on to be conquered by a succession of peoples, from the Moors to the Portuguese to the Spanish.
Despite its geographical location, the Spanish have held since 1668, previous to the creation of recent Moroccan statehood, so it has been geopolitically aligned with Southern Europe for 356 years.
It is, as we prefer to name it, slightly slice of Spain in North Africa:
A Piece Of Spain In The North Of Africa?
Ceuta’s residents are primarily ethnically Spanish, and religious Christians, with a major minority of Muslims and even some Sephardic Jews, they maintain Spanish passports, and to the inattentive onlooker, this could possibly be some other metropolis in sun-drenched Andalusia.
From the landmark-packed Old Town to the attractive shoreline, Ceuta ticks all the bins and then some.
The port space is dominated by the Royals Walls, a collection of ramparts with a sea-filled ditch which have protected the town for the reason that yr 962 AD, and that are actually a serious vacationer attraction.
Walking the cafe-packed middle, you are more likely to encounter the House of Dragons––no, it is acquired no connection to the HBO hit present, but it surely is a Moorish Revivalist ensemble topped with menacing bronze dragons that might simply belong within the fictional Dorne.
Verdant Plaza de Africa (or Africa Square) is the beating coronary heart of Ceuta, flanked by native companies and church buildings, such because the Renaissance-style Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, relationship again to the sixteenth century, and the yellow-washed Shrine of Our Lady of Africa.
A brief 3-minute stroll from the sq., Paseo de las Palmeras is a promenade lined by palm bushes and oceanfront developments––aside from the large alternative of bars and eating places it affords, it’s the place you will discover the perfectly-preserved, Twelfth-century Arab Baths.
The columns and mosaics inside have stood the take a look at of time almost intact, and never visiting is just not an possibility when it is free to enter.
Incredible North African Food
Speaking of eating places, no journey to Ceuta is full with out informal Moroccan dinner in OASIS, a laid-back eatery overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar serving North African delicacies like beef couscous, lamb tajine, and contemporary pastillas––rooster pie dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Ceuta is a Mediterranean exclave, so it is no shock seafood is on the high of its culinary affords: for scrumptious grilled octopus, freshly-caught fish, and $3 beer, head to El Muelle––as for the perfect mariscos on the town, El Camaron is to not be missed.
Other factors of curiosity embody ‘Hercules and the Union of the World’, a monumental sculpture symbolizing Ceuta’s distinctive standing between Europe and Africa, the pond-dotted Mediterranean Maritime Park, a leisure complicated dotted with synthetic salt-water lakes, and Monte Hacho:
Incredible Coastal Hikes
A well-liked hike main as much as a fortress, it rewards climbers with panoramic views of each Ceuta, Morocco, and mainland Spain throughout the ocean.
Ceuta is the good vacation spot for getting your strolling footwear on and escaping into nature: it could be tiny, but it surely suffers from no scarcity of nature reserves.
The trek from ‘Puerto’ to the Portuguese-built Desnarigado Castle visits untouched patches of Mediterranean vegetation, hidden coves and scenic viewpoints, and it is a round, 6.5 mile route taking simply over 3 hours to finish.
If you are a mountain biking fanatic, then you’ll be able to’t miss this famous biking path operating alongside the define of Ceuta’s territory, overlaying a distance of 25.1 miles at an elevation achieve of three,631 toes.
Coming for the seashores as an alternative? No pasa nada!
Unspoiled Mediterranean Beaches
Ceuta has beautiful swimming spots, most notably Playa de la Ribera, a sand-and-gravel stretch lining turquoise waters, Playa del Chorrillo, adjacent to the sea fortifications, and Playa de Calamocarro, a pleasant surprise found at the end of a scenic, one-hour long nature trail starting from the city.
As it’s part of Africa, Ceuta boasts warmer temperatures year-round, ranging from 70°F to 73°F in the fall.
Despite being beautiful, sunny in the fall and winter, and even playing host to a handful of beachfront hotels, Ceuta is mostly crowd-free:
Out of the Spanish territories in Africa, which embody the fashionable Canary Islands and fellow North African exclave Melilla, Ceuta is the second least-visited vacation spot, having welcomed round 65,000 company in 2023, based on Spain’s National Statistics Institute.
A majority of these might be coming from Madrid and close by Andalusia, so worldwide vacationers make up an even smaller proportion.
Let us rephrase that: that is a kind of coastal Mediterranean gems boasting unspoiled seashores, beautiful nature trails, and historic sights that the tens of hundreds of thousands of vacationers flocking to Spain yearly are but to find.
For that motive, Ceuta stays reasonably priced––and much more welcoming in direction of foreigners––than its overtouristed counterparts:
How Expensive Is Ceuta To Visit?
An in a single day on the Oh Nice Revellin Ceuta, a 3-star itemizing inside strolling distance to all the principle sights, will set you again by $67 an evening, whereas the enduring Parador de Ceuta, a resort hooked up to the historic partitions, prices from $91 upward to e book.
Cheap eats are simply as plentiful: a primary lunchtime menu together with a drink averages $12.28 in a reasonable restaurant, as reported by Expatistan, and for these on a strict finances, combo meals in quick meals chains begin from $6.43.
Is Ceuta Safe To Visit?
Seeing that Ceuta is situated in Africa, simply how secure is it to go to?
The reply is very secure: it could be in a unique continent altogether, however as we identified earlier than, this can be a Spanish territory, ruled by Spanish legislation, and guarded by Spanish legislation enforcers.
There is a highly-surveilled border line separating Ceuta from Morocco, and nobody will get in or out, and even travels onward to mainland Spain, with out getting screened first.
How To Get To Ceuta
Last however not least, on to a very powerful query of all: how are you going to get to Ceuta from mainland Spain?
Though the town does have a small heliport, the simplest and most handy method to journey is taking a ferry from Algeciras, on the Andalusian coast, to Ceuta.
Adult tickets value from solely $31.27, and the crossing takes between 1h and 1h30, relying on the chosen route and climate circumstances, and you’ll e book them immediately by means of transportation supplier Balearia’s official website.
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This article initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
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