Ceuta or Sebta? Why one city has two names and a disputed status

Felipe VI’s first visit to Ceuta and Melilla as king brings Spain’s territorial dispute with Morocco back into focus. Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are due to visit Ceuta on October 13 and Melilla the following day, in Felipe’s first visit to either city as king since he ascended the throne in 2014. The trip comes after a major migration crisis at the Ceuta border in July and as the long-running dispute between Spain and Morocco over the two cities on the North African coast remains unresolved. Spain considers Ceuta and Melilla part of its territory, while Morocco regards both cities and several smaller Spanish-held territories in North Africa as part of its own territory.

The city that sits on the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar also has different names in Spanish and Arabic. In Spain, it is Ceuta. In Arabic, it is Sabta, commonly written as Sebta in Latin script. So why does the same city have two names? And how did a city on the North African coast come under Spanish sovereignty? The name is much older than either modern Spain or Morocco. The city was known as Sabta in Arabic. Spain’s Ministry of Culture identifies Sabta with present-day Ceuta and traces its history through successive periods of Idrisid, Umayyad, Taifa, Almoravid, Almohad and