Being almost a year ago in Morocco, and sitting in the town of Tetouan, in the north of the country, I somehow got into a conversation with a certain local uncle. He said that although he was a Moroccan himself, he lived in Spanish Malaga. And now he is visiting his family, but then he will return to Spain. We discussed for a long time the problems of emigration, its questions and doubts, the hardships of adaptation and the quite understandable hostility of the Spaniards to the arriving illegal immigrants from Morocco. He dropped a noteworthy phrase about the fact that first there was “Conquista”, then “Reconquista”. And now, when Europe has relaxed, there will be a second Muslim "Conquista". My interlocutor laughed when we mentioned that the quiet second Conquista of Europe is already in full swing, since in the same Paris every fifth one is from the Maghreb countries. He stopped laughing for a moment and noticed that in Paris the situation is not as indicative as, for example, in Marseille, where every third of his fellow believers. Why did we lead this conversation? I do not know. My interlocutor disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.

The next day, probably imbued with a conversation on the subject of the Conquest, I took a trip to the Spanish Ceuta. Minibuses leave from Tetuan CTM bus station to the very border crossing in Ceuta (40 km).

View of Ceuta from the Moroccan border post

A few words about these route taxis, otherwise called Grand Taxi. We are talking about old and extremely worn out Peugeot-504, or Mercedes-200. These cars are packed with many more passengers than is expected. At least 4 people in the back (sometimes, plus children as well), plus two in the same passenger seat in the front. In total, in a car designed for 5 people, including the driver, there are actually 7-9 rides. It is important to take these nuances into account, since this type of transport can be extremely tiring on long journeys. In my case, there were seven of us, including the driver, and a ram was driving in the trunk, which continuously and forcefully pounded against the back of the seat, from which our backs jumped up and down.

Route taxis from Moroccan Tetouan arrive here. Further - customs and the neutral strip.

The way to Spain is a long crossing between two fences. Moroccan aunts are carrying goods for sale.

Border fence separating Spanish Ceuta and Morocco

If Tangier is the gateway to Morocco for Europeans of all stripes and needs, then Ceuta is the gateway to the world for Moroccan shoppers and rare backpackers. These gates differ greatly from each other both in appearance and in the contingent of these borders crossing. Ceuta (in Arabic - Sebta) occupies 18 square kilometers and includes a mountainous peninsula protruding into the sea, connected to the land by a narrow isthmus, where the city of Ceuta is actually located. The enclave is separated from Morocco by a fortified fence line, which is clearly visible from some panoramic positions already inside the enclave. The border crossing is peculiar. First of all, do not take photographs on the territory of the terminals, be it Spanish or Moroccan. In my presence, two Spanish girls were detained, who were filming the process of customs inspection of the car with a video camera. Their detention was not limited to oral suggestion, but they were put into a gendarmerie car and taken away in the direction of Tetouan.

Ceuta

Further. A group of local hustlers (molested), apparently not very touristy, will try to sell you immigration cards to fill out. This is offered to everyone in a row, but you should not listen to them - cards are issued for free in passport control windows. Tourists get in a queue separate from the Moroccans and very quickly, having received a seal in exchange for a filled-in card, follow to the Spanish terminal, which is about fifty meters away. And here, already on the Spanish side, I was struck by the ease with which crowds of people enter Europe. Nobody checked the documents of people entering Spain.

I repeat - in general, no one checked the documents of any of those traveling through this border crossing. I didn’t even get my passport, but only walked in the crowd of Moroccans, and a minute later I was at the bus stop already in the enclave.

Bus number 7, with the sign “Centro Ciudad” (city center) just pulled up to the stop, the whole crowd happily loaded into it and we drove off. Peace be with you, Spain. And yet it is noteworthy that against the background of Europeans lamenting about the flow of illegal immigrants from Africa, the borders here are actually transparent. Looking ahead, I will note that no one checked the documents on the way back. And one more thing - from the border to the city center (2.5 km) you can walk along the embankment.

Ceuta deserves a little historical insight. Very short, I promise, because I myself hate when the authors of travel notes, imagining themselves to be history teachers, rewrite from the Internet what they have no idea about.

So, for the Spaniards of Ceuta, it is like for the Russians Crimea with Kronstadt, for Britain - Gibraltar, for the USA - the Statue of Liberty, and for the Israelis - Jerusalem. It is therefore understandable how sensitive Spain is to any speculation about its last African possessions. All the more so with Ceuta, over which the Spanish flag has not been lowered since 1580, when it was obtained from the Portuguese.

Morocco has big ambitions for Ceuta and Melilla, and last year's conflict between the two countries over the ownership of a tiny island a few kilometers northeast of Ceuta is another example.

The retention of enclaves is a matter of national pride in Spain, in light of which eyes have long been closed to the fact that both enclaves are subsidized, that unemployment reaches 30% and that in order to attract residents there, full tax exemptions are offered. Against this background, the Spaniards' claims to British Gibraltar, which they consider their territory, illegally appropriated by the British, look extremely cynical and ironic.

In my opinion, Ceuta is remarkable for the very fact that it is a European enclave in Africa, colorful and unusual. A town with a population of 75 thousand inhabitants, of which a third are Moroccans. There is a nice historic center, a couple of churches, one synagogue, a city theater and ... that's all.

Here is a paradise for lovers of ancient fortresses and other fortifications - there are at least five fortresses in Ceuta, of which two amaze with their scale and power. One of them, Foso de San-Felipe, at the entrance to the historic center of the city, is a true masterpiece of medieval fortification art. It is worth spending a couple of hours here, including a visit to the small but interesting city museum. In fact, this huge bastion separates the city from the African mainland, because here, in the narrowest part of the isthmus, a ditch was dug, where sea water splashes.

The second fort, Fortaleza de Hacho, is located on the top of the mountain, on the opposite side of the peninsula, or about 4 km east of the city center. The fortress, the walls of which with watchtowers and numerous loopholes stretch for 2.5 km, encircles the top of the mountain of the same name.

The third fort, Castilio de Desnarigado, is located at the eastern end of the peninsula, 7 km from the city center and a kilometer. The fourth and fifth fort are less impressive, poorly preserved, and are located on the southern part of the peninsula.

In principle, it is not so difficult to make a radial walking route from the city to all the forts. As I did, having walked about 10 km on foot. This is a difficult path, but with many impressions and great places for panoramic shooting not only of Ceuta, but also the vastness of Gibraltar, which is less than 30 kilometers in a straight line, perfectly visible from here.

I liked Ceuta. If you look at this place as a place of residence, then the feeling of claustrophobia is inevitable. The enclave, with a maximum length of 9 km and a maximum width of 1.8 km, sandwiched between the sea and the border, connected to Europe by ferries, is an ambiguous place for permanent residence. And not everyone likes it. The advantages include a wonderful climate, warm sea, cheap housing and tax breaks.

After another half hour, I entered the building of the passenger terminal of the port of Ceuta. From here, ferries and high-speed catamarans depart hourly to Algeciras, Spain. It is noteworthy that ferries to the mainland are more expensive here than from Tarifa to Tangier. I paid 34 euros one way (from Tarifa it cost 29 euros) and that was the minimum fare. A small incident came out during boarding, when it turned out that the purchased ticket was a voucher, which should be exchanged in another window for the boarding cabin. So I missed the nearest catamaran. It's good that tickets are sold without time and are valid for any catamaran during the day. Before boarding, passport control is carried out, but again - selectively. Ahead of me, a Moroccan family was thoroughly checked for a long time, but I and several people behind me passed without taking out their passports, and in the same way boarded the ship.

And so, again crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, this time in the opposite direction. The camel-like ridge of Ceuta slowly disappears in the distance, gradually merging with the mountains of the African coast. Half an hour and only the general outlines of the place where I have recently comprehended the mysteries of ancient fortresses and the peculiarities of border crossing are visible.

But on the starboard side appears the rock of Gibraltar. The catamaran enters the Gulf of Algeciras, slows down and it's time to take some gorgeous pictures. Everything is very close. Here are the berths of the port of Algeciras, and opposite, across the bay, literally five kilometers away is the British outpost of Gibraltar.

From the guidebook, I knew that Algeciras itself is of little interest from a tourist point of view. A large port city, Spain's gateway to Africa. But here I was to spend this day and night. Without burdening myself with the agonizing choice, I just headed to the nearest inexpensive hotel that LP mentioned. This is the "Marrakesh" Motel run by a friendly Moroccan family. A single room with shared facilities costs 20 euros here, and a double room costs 30 euros. The main advantage of this place is that it is located very close to the port, bus station and railway station. Any of the stations is literally a few minutes on foot. Then I left my things, took a shower and, without wasting precious light time (it is already noon on the clock), went to the nearby bus station. I'm going to Gibraltar! But more on that in here.

Geographically, the territory of the Spanish enclaves in the territory, Ceuta and Melilla, can be characterized as a semi-enclave or maritime enclave. Both Ceuta and Melilla have their own territorial waters with access to the open sea. Ceuta is located on seven small mountains, the highest of which is Anyera with a height of 349 meters.

In addition to the continental part, Ceuta occupies the small peninsula of La Almina (península de Almina), which juts out into the Strait of Gibraltar from the African coast and is considered the border of the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point of the peninsula is Mount Monte Hacho with a height of 204 meters. At the top of the mountain there is a sea fort founded by the Phoenicians, the Monastery of San Antonio and the Franco memorial.

The ancient name of this mountain, Abila (Mons Abila, Monte Abila, Abyla), according to one of the two versions of ancient Greek mythology, it is the southern of the Pillars of Hercules. Another version claims that the southern pillar could have been Mount Jebel Musa (Adrar Musa 851 m) in Morocco. We remind you that the rock of Gibraltar is considered the northern pillar.

The extreme points of the Almina Peninsula, the islet of Santa Catalina (La isla de Santa Catalina), where in the 18th century there was a prison and Cape La Almina on the territory of a military fort. The peninsula is connected with the continent by a narrow isthmus protected by ancient fortress walls.

The climate in the Autonomous Republic of Ceuta is mild subtropical, Mediterranean, with an average annual temperature of about 16 ºC. The main factor influencing the formation of the climatic features of Ceuta is the coastal mountain system and Jebel Musa mountain, 851 meters above sea level. Mountains create a natural barrier to the formation of a microclimate, preventing the free passage of both continental and sea air currents.

The amount of precipitation in winter is very irregular and depends on the Atlantic winds. The summer period can be described as dry. Despite this, the relative humidity is significantly higher than the average value and is more than 80%.

Modern etymologists believe that the name Ceuta appeared as a derivative of the name of the ancient Roman trading post Septem, the Seven Brothers (Septem Fratres), which appeared from the seven hills of the Almina peninsula on which the city is located, first described by the ancient Roman geographer Pomponio Mena (1st century AD) ... Thus, the version is supported that the Roman name Septem was transformed into Arabic Sebta, and then into Spanish Ceuta.

In memory of the Moroccan War, Queen Elizabeth II of Spain established the County of Almina (Condado de la Almina). This title of nobility was granted by the Queen, the commander of one of the corps of the Spanish army, General Antonio de Ros Alano, on July 17, 1860.

Ceuta is a city with more than 2,000 years of history that has survived the presence of all human civilizations that vied for control of the Strait of Gibraltar. Ceuta is located at the junction of the two continents of Europe and Africa and at the confluence of and.

Ancient history

The primitive stone tools of the Neolithic primitive man found in the caves of Ceuta enable archaeologists to assert. Archaeological excavations that took place on the border with Morocco, called Cabililla de Benzú, confirm the opinion of scientists that these places were inhabited by our distant ancestors between 100,000 and 250,000 years ago. It was from here that the first intercontinental travelers moved to the European continent.

The ancient Greek legends about the giant Hercules, who spread the mountains and connected the seas, give rise to the assertion that the first Phoenician and ancient Greek navigators knew this small peninsula of Almina. In his legends of the II and I millennia BC. BC, the Greeks identified Ceuta with Mount Abilya, the southernmost of the Pillars of Hercules, today Mount Acho.

Despite the found Phoenician coins, mints and fragments of pottery from the 5th century BC, no reliable evidence of the existence of a Phoenician or Carthaginian settlement has been found here.

Roman period

From existing Roman written documents of the 1st century BC. e. it is known that before the arrival of the Romans, the Abilya Peninsula, the territory of modern Ceuta, belonged to the Kingdom of Mauritania.

According to the early Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, the first town-forming fishing and salt trading post established here by the Romans was called the Seven Brothers (Septem Frates), its inhabitants salted fish and produced Garum sauce.

The main attraction of the Roman period, a marble sarcophagus of the 3rd century, is kept today in the Archaeological Museum of Ceuta.

Archaeologists also claim that a Christian community existed in Ceuta since the 4th century, as evidenced by the foundation of an early Christian basilica and a necropolis in Africa Square. It is the site of the earliest Christian worship found in the Roman province of Mauritania Tingitana, with its capital.

Visigoths, Vandals and Byzantines

After the fall of the Roman Empire (411), the ancient Germanic Goths took over the former Roman provinces. As a result of the struggle for new territories, the Visigoths drove the former allies of the Vandals from the Iberian Peninsula.

In 429, the Vandals crossed the coast of North Africa. Under the onslaught of warlike barbarians, the settlement and fish processing plant built by the Romans was destroyed and lost its former significance. Further, the whole of North Africa came under the control of the Kingdom of the Vandals.

A new historical round in the development of Ceuta began in 533 with the conquest of the peninsula by the troops of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (the Great). The Byzantines chose Ceuta as their springboard in the war with the Visigoth Kingdom for the return of Roman territories. Fortress walls were erected around the city and the first Church of Our Lady (Madre de Dios) was built.

Soon the Visigothic king Theodoric III, organized a military campaign with the aim of capturing Ceuta (Septón) and weakening the military power of the Byzantines, which lasted from 542 to 548, as a result of which the Visigoths took possession of the peninsula.

Ceuta under Muslim rule

During the incessant internal strife in the Visigoth Kingdom, Ceuta was captured by the troops of the Arab caliph Al Walid I. During the period of Muslim rule over Ceuta (709-1415), the city was destroyed several times and changed rulers. Historians mention an uprising in support of the Arabs, led by the Visigothic governor of Ceuta, Count Don Julian, which caused the rapid capture of the city.

Later (711) from the port of Ceuta, on ships provided by Don Julian, Arab troops crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to begin the military expansion of the Iberian Peninsula.

The rulers of the local Berber tribe of Khorijites, who did not accept the rule of the Arabs, raised an uprising in 740, which was brutally suppressed by troops sent from Damascus, Caliph Hisham. For more than a year, the Berbers ruled in Ceut, turning the inhabitants of the city into slaves who did not manage to cross the strait to Al Andalus. After the expulsion of the Berbers, for the completely destroyed Ceuta, a period of oblivion began, until the middle of the 9th century.

The next period of Ceuta's heyday began under the rule of the Berber dynasty of Banu Isam, the Maikasa tribe, lasted from the middle of the 9th century to 931. During this time, the city was fully restored and replaced by four generations of rulers.

In 931, the ruler Abdarrahman III captured Ceuta and made it an important port, connecting Al Andalus with the Maghreb states as his African outpost.

After the fall of the Cordoba Caliphate, Ceuta fell under the rule of Taifa Malaga (1024), then several times became a separate state. For the first time, Taifa Ceuta, united with Tangier, under the control of the Berber ruler Suqut al Bargawati, existed from 1061 to 1084, until it was occupied by the Almoravid troops.

Soon, after fierce wars for the purity of the morals of early Islam, the territory of the Almoravids came under the control of another Berber dynasty of the Almohads, whose troops occupied Ceuta in 1147.

During the reign of the Almohads, Ceuta was the largest trading port in the Mediterranean, where there were diplomatic missions of many Christian kingdoms that occupied the territories of modern France and Italy.

After the defeat by the united Christian forces of Castilla, Aragon and Portugal, the troops of the Almohads in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (July 16, 1212), one of the main turning points of the reconquest came, the Muslims rapidly began to lose the territory of the former.

It is necessary to note the selfless feat of six Christian preachers led by Saint Daniel (San Daniel), who arrived from Tarragona on September 20, 1227 in Ceuta with the word of God. All six monks were beheaded at the Bloody Beach (Playa de la Sangre) of Ceuta, October 10, 1227. For this feat, all six monks were canonized (1516) by the Vatican, and Saint Daniel is considered the patron saint of the city.

Since the capture (1232) by the troops of the former Almohad commander Muhammad Yusuf al Judami, better known as Ibn Hood, Ceuta has been at the forefront of all military events in North Africa for more than a hundred years. A year later, Ceuta regained its status as a prosperous trading city for several years from 1233 to 1236, becoming an independent state under the rule of Al Yanaati.

From 1236 to 1242, the Almohads re-established their influence over Ceuta. Then (1242-1273), Abu Zakariyya from the Hamsid dynasty, who at that time had already declared himself the emir of Tunisia, seized the city, out of the control of the Almohads.

The gaining strength of the Moroccan dynasty of the Mirinids, includes the cities of Ceuta and Tangier in their possessions (1273). Immediately after this, Ceuta is captured by the Aragon navy, the Mirinids undertake to pay an annual tribute for the independence of Ceuta.

The expanding Nasrid state occupied Ceuta from 1305 to 1309. Only with the participation of the Kings of Castile and Aragon, the Myrinids were able to re-conquer Ceuta.

The Muslim rule over Ceuta ended on August 14, 1415, when Portuguese warships, under the command of Prince Enrique the Navigator, captured the city in one day.

Portuguese conquest

The king of Portugal, João I, had been preparing for the conquest of Ceuta for several years. A powerful fleet was built especially for this company, consisting of 200 ships and 45,000 soldiers. On August 21, a week after the end of the victorious battle, the royal retinue marched through the deserted streets of the conquered city, as the entire surviving Muslim population fled. Count Pedro de Meneses, who participated in the capture of the city, was appointed Governor of Ceuta.

By order of the king, the Muslim mosque in Africa Square was destroyed and the Church of Our Lady of Africa was built not in its place. The fortifications were hastily restored and modified to reflect the constant attacks of Muslims, both from the sea and on land.

The population of Ceuta was then 2,500 inhabitants, it consisted of soldiers of the garrison, a small group of merchants, artisans and former prisoners involved in construction.

The conquest of Ceuta became for the Portuguese the beginning of a golden path, a further offensive of the crusade to the lands of the Maghreb. In fact, from here began the era of the great Portuguese sea discoveries.

By 1441, the Portuguese received the first caravan of ships with gold and African slaves. Despite the fact that the maintenance of Ceuta cost Portugal enormous efforts, the military expansion of the African territories was then the main line of the country's foreign policy. At the cost of great effort, after four unsuccessful attempts and the death of Prince Fernando, the Portuguese managed to take Tangier on August 29, 1471.

Two years later, after the death of the young Portuguese king Sebastian I (1578) during another Moroccan campaign, the Kingdom of Portugal was united with (1580), the Iberian Union was formed (1580-1640). From that moment on, it is generally accepted that Ceuta came under the jurisdiction of the Spanish crown. After the dissolution of the Iberian Union (1640), the governor of Ceuta, Don Francisco de Almeida, remained loyal to the Spanish monarch Philip IV.

Ceuta Spanish rule

Ceuta was officially incorporated into Spain in 1656. The city was given the title, Noble and Devoted. Following the change of bishop, there was a change in currency and official language. Gradually, the inhabitants of Ceuta integrated into Spanish society, some families left the city forever.

The Moroccan rulers did not for a second give up the hope of liberating Ceuta. The city was constantly under siege (1694, 1732, 1757, 1791), the longest (1694-1727) siege was undertaken by the second sultan of Morocco, Moulay Ismail, it lasted more than 30 years, until his death. In addition to military clashes, the city experienced two plague epidemics in 1720-1721 and 1743-1744.

The first improvement in relations with Morocco occurred during the reign of Sultan Sidi Mohammed III bin Abdallah, through the conclusion of the peace treaty of 1767.

The bastions of Ceuta were traditionally used by the Spanish government as prisons for political prisoners who opposed the regime and for the freedom of the South American colonies.

The Ceuta garrison was one of the first to support the Madrid uprising against Joseph Bonaparte on May 2, 1808, and during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814), many members of the nobility and clergy of southern Spain took refuge here.

During the reign of Elizabeth II (1830-1904), the population of Ceuta increased to 10,000, the development of cultural infrastructure began, theaters and casinos were opened. The festivities in honor of Our Lady of Africa begin, Carnival. Later, a bullring was built (1918).

The end of the 19th century becomes the time of the construction of new fortifications in Ceuta: Fortín de Benzú (1866-1881), Fortín de Aranguren (1865), Fortín de Isabel II (1865), Fortín de Francisco de Asís (1865), Fortín de Mendizabal (1865) , Fortín Renegado (Tortuga) (1864), Fortín de Anyera (1860), Fuerte del Príncipe Alfonso (1860), Fuerte del Serrallo (1860).

The next turbulent stage in the development of Ceuta began with the passive occupation of Tetuan and the announcement of the creation of a new Spanish Protectorate in Morocco. By 1920, the population of Ceuta increased to 50,000 due to the influx of labor.

The result of the economic recovery was the construction of the Tetuan-Ceuta railway line, bus station, central market, port expansion, housing construction, improvement of urban infrastructure, and an increase in the number of garrisons.

After the establishment of the dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera, (1923-1930), the idea of \u200b\u200bexchanging Ceuta for Gibraltar was put forward, however, this idea was not destined to come true. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, at the Congress of Ceuta and Melilla (1935), Ceuta was declared the political center of the new Protectorate.

During the military uprising of 1936, Ceuta, without resistance, went over to the side of General Franco on July 18, and until the declaration of independence of Morocco (1956), the economy of Ceuta remained closely connected with the Protectorate. Changes in the political situation in the region, brought restrictions on fishing in the territorial waters of the North Africa, this negatively affected the state of the fishing industry in Ceuta. The closure of the Gibraltar Gate (1969) led to a change in Ceuta's tax policy on the sale of imported goods. The influx of visitors from Algeciras prompted the opening of a direct ferry service from Ceuta to Algeciras.

With the death of Franco (1975), the Spanish monarchy is restored, and King Juan Carlos I (1978) ascends the throne. Spain's accession to the World Trade Organization and the opening of Gibraltar negatively affected the economy of Ceuta. Spain's membership in the EU (1986) provided the city government of Ceuta with additional funding for some projects, which significantly transformed the urban landscape.

Since 1995, Ceuta has been an Autonomous City with its own Charter and legislation, administrative and judicial system. Ceuta has its own military, regular troops, legion and navy.

Actually, in the port, another round of my negotiations on tickets and the possibility of a trip to Moroccan Tangier began.
I crossed the embankment and here it is the port. I check where the ferry is boarding and walk towards one of the large buildings. Approaching the entrance to one of the buildings, I notice a large number of ticket booths. I went into the building - and there was a whole anthill of dark-skinned Moroccans. There are also noticeably small numbers of tourists. Long rows of kiosks are hung with standard signs - Ceuta-Tanger.
Communication with most sellers ends very quickly "No Ingles". And those who understand something, immediately lose interest in me when they learn that I have already bought a ticket and only want to "learn something."

In one of the kiosks I found an advertising brochure calling for excursion Algeciras-Ceuta-Tanger and back during the day... The ferry arrives in Ceuta, from there tourists travel by bus to the border, then to Moroccan Tangier. Along the route, we also visit the city of Tetuan.

Round trip ferry, bus transfers, lunch in Morocco and excursion cost 51 Euros. When I see such a price "disgrace" (remember the original price of a one-way ferry to Ceuta for 48 Euros), I start to ask more actively about such an excursion - who organizes? When do they sail? Where can I buy tickets? ticket ?, do you need a visa to Morocco for citizens of Ukraine ?. In general, there are too many questions for the Spaniards, who "nicht ferstein" my "ingles" mov. Having failed to achieve any intelligible answers from the Spanish-speaking Spaniards, I decided not to twitch, but to swim calmly to Ceuta, and there on the spot to resolve the issue of the possibility of a trip to Morocco (either to Tangier, or to Tetuan).

Ferry to Ceuta.
30 minutes before the departure of the ferry, I started looking for a "way-road" to this ferry. I will not describe the complexity of mutual understanding (more precisely, misunderstanding), but after HNN minutes I found a sign leading to the ferry. Having stood a long line of a motley audience of future seafarers, I went up to a cute girl who was checking tickets. Her question "Passport" did not make me worry. Until I realized that there was no passport! Moving aside, I arranged an audit in my backpack - there is no passport! But the thought that he should not disappear anywhere makes you look in all the cracks of the backpack. Fortunately, in the niche for storing backpack straps was found a passport and ... $ 20 stash from the last trip to Honduras. There were no limits to my happiness!

Passport check, wooden ladder to the ferry, the smell of fuel oil from the engine, long rows of seats in the large room-cabin of the ferry, the way to the bow (front of the ferry). That's it, I chose a place closer to the windows, but also near the only outlet on the wall.

Make yourself comfortable in the comfortable chairs on the ferry, I watched with interest the Moroccan "Bedouins", and they me.
Having sailed from the coast, literally at once the eye is attracted by the Giblartar bulk, clearly visible on the other side of the Gulf of Gibraltar. In the rays of the sun, it looks like some kind of three-peaked volcanic creature. But, as I already know, there is no crater at the top of Gibraltar. But there are monkeys!

Unfortunately, you cannot go on deck for better photography, and there is no deck as such on the ferry. However, on some advertising brochures I saw smiling passengers waving their hands to the photographer. Perhaps some types of ferries have a kind of viewing platform where you can breathe in the sea air. In the meantime, be so kind as to sit inside the ferry and admire the scenery through the glass. Which I did.

There were a lot of free seats in the passenger part of the ferry, and ... could have put sofas for those who want to sleep. The traditional ritual of recharging a laptop, mobile phone and camera (I knew that the battery might not last until evening). On the footage below you can see the wrong location of the laptop near the outlet (before that, he was ice on a chair, rented "at the bar"). Children running down the aisles caused me not only a feeling of tenderness, but also a feeling of fear for the laptop and mobile phone lying in the way of their migration processes. But, everything worked out.

Ceuta.
After 40 minutes of sailing, we arrived at the port of Ceuta and promptly disembarked ashore. I must say that most of the passengers very quickly absorbed somewhere, and in my "pure" Spanish I started looking for a tourist information desk. We must pay tribute to the leadership of the Ceuta Tourism Bureau - their counter in the port building is difficult to overlook. After talking about what is interesting in the city, where the bus stops, where is the border with Morocco, how you can get to Morocco, etc. I learned that a trip to Morocco without a visa may not work out. They say sometimes you can "slip through" with the locals, but the official procedure requires a visa (for citizens of Ukriana).

Inspired by the fact that I am in Africa, I move to the historic center of the city and when I saw the first car sign with the name of the city, I captured myself good against it.

The coastal area of \u200b\u200bCeuta is indented with harbors, in which many ships, yachts and lifeboats are "parked". In the distance you can see a hill on which the main "base of torpedo boats" is located - a military base, which, it seems, is leased by the US Navy (I will clarify and amend this text later). The entrance to the territory of that base is closed - you can go around it - along the coastal line. She is visible on the hill in the photo below.

Immediately from the harbor, the road leads to the city gates, located near the walls of the fortress. The Spanish flag flies proudly on the ramparts. I must say that Ceuta got to the Spaniards "by inheritance" - from the Portuguese, who conquered it in 1415 from the Moors. But later the city passed under the Spanish crown, when Portugal came under Spanish rule (the relations between Spain and Portugal in the Middle Ages is a separate interesting story). And when Portugal became an independent country again, Ceuta chose to remain under the Spanish flag. Which to this day rises on the fortress wall (see below).

Having specified where the museum is located in the fortress, I wander under the scorching sun towards it.
Just like ours, on the way to the fort one can see "cafes-restaurants", exploiting the love of tourists for historical places. I proudly pass by and find myself on a large square inside the fortress. I specify where the museum itself is. Not far is the entrance to it.

What a bliss to enter a cool museum room in this heat

For about 20 minutes I examined the exposition. Unfortunately all information is in Spanish - there is no museum guide. An excursion in English for one person cannot be ordered (if I understood the answers of the museum staff correctly). From them I learned that the city history museum is not far away (by the standards of Ceuta), but I need to hurry up, because closes at 13:00. Remained 40 minutes before this moment and I put forward on the way. On the way, examining and photographing the city.

Ceuta Military Command - everything is decorous, noble, in a colonial style. To the left of the entrance is a monument to a soldier (not visible in the photo). And yes, there is a palm tree in front of the entrance.


One of the central streets of Ceuta. Strange, but in this place it looks deserted, despite the fact that during my walk along it, there was no feeling of loneliness. The point, probably, is that all people "wander" along the street in the shadow of the facades - it is clearly visible that all the houses on this street have a kind of canopy (I do not know what it is called from the architectural point of view). It is under these awnings that people move, fleeing the scorching rays of the sun.

The streets in the city are not very wide. Only the port area is conveniently located in large open spaces. As a result, parking in the city is sometimes the same as in Paris - nose to nose.

African siesta
Spain, it is Spain in Africa. Confirmation of this in Ceuta is the fact that the external manifestation of the siesta (lunch time) is also on the face here. Most shops close for lunch at 13:00. Enviable organization touches when you see the simultaneous closing of doors and lowering of protective shutters. However, some of the shops still remain open. The doors of a few cafes are also open - after all, the city was designed as a military base, and not a tourist center. But, there is no shortage of cafes-restaurants - there is simply no large flow of tourists. And the locals probably know where and how to eat :-)

By the way, many museums here work from 9:00 to 13:00, and then from 17:00 to 20:00. So much for your spa lunch break!

Having visited another landmark, an excavation site above an ancient temple of the UHN-th century before or after our era, I decided to move to the beach, because the midday sun was pretty hot. Having asked the local macho where the locals actually bathe, I received a detailed answer. Most helpful in their response was the direction with my hand where I should go. I didn't know how to ask about the beaches in Spanish, but my movements, emitting the movements of a swimmer, were correctly understood and, I hoped, they pointed me in the right direction. Having learned from the experience of the previous tips of "local" geographers, I checked their advice with the map of the city (carried out a reconnaissance in the area) and set off. Judging by the map, it was no more than 500 meters to the shore. But among the narrow streets, the presence of the sea was not yet felt.

Beach
After passing through the narrow streets, I came out onto the highway along the coast. Traditional photo on the background of the coast. In the foreground is the city beach. A little later I was splashing about in the Mediterranean Sea, cooling off from the high temperature. The mountains of Morocco are visible in the background.

On the way to the beach, I noticed an interesting monument - a soldier and a sheep. Honestly, there was no one to ask what role the sheep played in the liberation or defense of Ceuta, but I do not exclude that it was the same as the geese in ancient Rome.

The beach runs along the embankment - they descend to it by degrees, going right to the sand. The location of the beach just 100 meters from the temple is pleasing to the eye. And it is not pleasing to the eye that there are not so many naked girls on the beach in Ceuta. And they are kind of modest :-)

After the "water treatments" I headed back to the fortress that separates this part of Ceuta from the port. My goal is the road to Morocco.A regular bus runs towards the checkpoint. On the way to it, I walked along the fortress walls, gave a lecture to local boys about the potential dangers of swinging on ancient cannons, took a couple of photos in the format "I was here" and ... here it is, a bus stop standing in the shade of trees. While waiting for the bus, I decided to capture a monument to some "Don Pedro". Where he points ... I don't know, but the road "to Morocco" is the other way!

Going down the city streets, I look with interest at city buildings and residential quarters.
As you move away from the center, the fashionable office buildings of the central part of the city are replaced ... not by slums, but, let's say, by "khrushchev". This is how the average Ceuta lives - decorating their homes with washed linen. These landscapes are already familiar to me from my visit to Gibraltar.

Trip to Morocco.
Having reached the border by bus, having specified that it runs until late in the evening, I moved to the checkpoint.

Starting point of my "march" in Morocco. Cars enter the checkpoint and move in a narrow line to three access gates. And ordinary Moroccan citizens stomp along the wall to their home along the barred maze (so that they don't run away, probably). Realizing that the cars are not on my way, and the passage for the EU residents is not the same for me, I settled down with the Bedouins and walked along a narrow corridor along the wall.

Kortko - I was stopped at the very last checkpoint. One more step, and I would be outside the checkpoint.

But I went through 2 posts without any problems (I just walked along with a string of local residents along the "wailing wall"). And now, already at the exit from the border zone, one of the sleepy border guards nevertheless asked, "What is a citizen in a red T-shirt with the USSR emblem doing in Morocco ??" My claims that UA is almost the same as UK did not work. Persuasions, assurances about "peace-friendship-corn" also did not have the proper effect on the border guard.
As a result, having "sent" him in the direction of the "urological department", I went to "download rights" to the checkpoint building. And although some Moroccan officers tried to help me, the head of the border point, to which I still made my way to the reception, remained adamant - citizens of Ukraine need a visa to Morocco!

Never mind, next time you need to dress less defiantly and wrap yourself in some kind of robe to successfully cross the border in Morocco :-)

On the way back to Ceuta, the Spanish border guards spent a long time figuring out why I was going back from Morocco, but I do not have a stamp that I was in Morocco. Explaining to them on the fingers that I was definitely not in Morocco and want to "go home" to Spain (here, they say, and a return ferry ticket), I was allowed to enter the territory of "African" Europe.

Sadly I took another photo of the Moroccan flag and wandered over to the bus that runs between the checkpoint and the city center.

I will not write about the search "with passion" for taking a photo of the Moroccan checkpoint - nothing interesting

But, I remind you - you should not take photos of the Moroccan border guards and the checkpoint itself! (I read later about the misadventures of foreigners in Moroccan prisons - no good). I still have one photo ...

He returned to the city and decided to wander the streets, waiting for the ferry to Spain.
Accidentally became a "witness" of the wedding ceremony in the central temple. I don't know why the groom chose such a bride for himself, but the witness (in a red dress), I liked it more :-)

One of the farewell photographs of Ceuta - a view of the port and the fortress on the mountain (distant, the one that is more modern).

Having bought yoghurts and peaches for the journey, I safely crossed the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry. By the way, I experienced great pleasure when the ferry "jumped" on the waves, which seem to be not large (about 1 meter), but noticeably thrown up by the high-speed ferry. Many tourists groaned, ahali, shouted in time with the pitching when the ferry "fell" from the crest of the next wave.

And here they are, the "native" palms of Algeciras. And Moroccan residents under palm trees, waiting for the next ferry to their homeland.

At the exit from the port, I noticed a large crowd of people and ... police. I immediately remembered that in the morning the policemen explained something to me about the festival-carnival, which will be in the evening on the embankment. That is what I got to the festive carnival, which was attended by a large number of residents of Algeciras on the embankment. But that's another story ...

Continuing travel notes about traveling in Spain and

Ceuta (Spanish: Ceuta) - a small semi-enclave on the north coast of morocco, right opposite Of Gibraltarwhich belongs Spain.

Ceuta - a former impregnable seaside fortress, but now a small one, consisting of a small half island in the Strait of Gibraltar with a nine-kilometer coastline, about two kilometers wide, separated from the Kingdom of Morocco by a double border wall more than three meters high, which Spain has owned since 1580. Ceuta has the status of an autonomous region of Spain in northern Africa.



The origin of the name Ceuta can go back to the name given by the Romans to the seven mountains of the region (Septem Fratres - "Seven Brothers"). Septem - Septa - Ceita - Ceuta... Throughout history, Ceuta has been successively captured by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Punas, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines and Muslims, having been, at least since the 13th century, in the sphere of the expansionist plans of Castile, whose first steps date back to the reign of Fernando III Saint.



Area - 18.5 km, population - 75 thousand people. The enclave is separated from Morocco by the Ceut wall border. In addition to the Spaniards, people of Arab, Chinese, Indian and Jewish origin live in the city. Languages: The official language is Spanish. The Maghreb population also speaks Arabic. The climate is subtropical and Mediterranean.

The exoticism of the eastern city manifests itself in the ancient mosques of Ceuta, Arab baths and bustling bazaars with a large selection of Moroccan fabrics and jewelry, although this is still a more Catholic settlement with many elegant temples.

Getting to the city is quite simple: every hour a ferry departs from the Algeciras Maritime Station towards Ceuta, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in just 40 minutes. Having made a short sea voyage and enjoying the beautiful views of the African coast, the sound of waves and the cry of seagulls, you will find yourself in a wonderful Spanish town with magnificent architecture, powerful defensive walls and a major commercial port, which is the main component of Ceuta's economy.



Of course, do not forget about the wonderful beaches of Ceuta with white sand and crystal clear waters. Choosing the best excursion tours to Spain, you will get incredible pleasure from relaxing on the sea coast, doing water sports and diving on the seabed, striking in its beauty and abundance of underwater inhabitants.



Ceuta attractions:

Sanctuary and Church of St. Mary African. (XV century)

Municipal Palace (1926)

Church of St. Francis

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios

Mediterranean Marine Park





Arab Baths


Grand Casino

Synagogue Bet El

Edifisio Trujillo

House of Dragons

Monument to the Fallen in the African War. Located in the Plaza de Africa. Dedicated to the fallen in the war of 1858-60. Height - 13.5 meters, on the lower part there is an interesting bronze bas-relief made by the sculptor Susino. There is a crypt nearby.

Colonel Ruiz Square (Plaza del Teniente Ruiz). One of the most beautiful corners of the city, located on Calle Real (Royal Street). Built in honor of the hero of Ceuta, Jacinto Ruiz Mendoza, one of the heroes of the War of Independence.

Other sights on the outskirts:

Fortress of Monte Acho. It is located on the mountain of the same name, the first fortifications were built by the Byzantines and united into a single defensive system during the Umayyad era. The fortress acquired its present appearance in the 18-19 centuries.




Sidi Embarek Mosque