Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast; Sebta is its Arabic name. Portugal captured it in 1415, it stayed with Spain when Portugal broke…
Rome called the town Septem, after seven hills. Arabic made it Sebta; Portuguese and Spanish made it Ceuta.
Arab-Berber armies took Sebta around 709-711. Cordoba, Almoravids, Almohads and Marinids ruled it for seven centuries.
King John I of Portugal captured Ceuta in a single day, ending seven centuries of Muslim rule.
Ceuta stayed loyal to Spain when Portugal broke away in 1640. The 1668 Treaty of Lisbon confirmed it.
Sultan Moulay Ismail besieged Ceuta on and off for 33 years. A second siege followed in 1790-91. Both failed.
After the 1859-60 war, the Treaty of Wad-Ras enlarged Ceuta's land perimeter to roughly today's line.
Ceuta was never part of the 1912-56 protectorate. Morocco claimed it from 1956 and wrote to the UN in 1975.
Organic Law 1/1995 made Ceuta an autonomous city, an integral part of the Spanish nation with its own Assembly.
Juan Carlos I visited Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco recalled its ambassador from Madrid for two months.
About 8,000-10,000 people, many teenagers, entered Ceuta after Moroccan guards eased controls in a row over Western Sahara.
About 49,000 people entered in under 24 hours, per Spain; 60,000, per the city. Dozens died; most went back.
Morocco proposed a dialogue commission. Spain said its territorial integrity will never be discussed with anyone.
Felipe VI's first visit as king, with an overnight stay; Melilla follows on 14 October.
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