"It's a beautiful city, lodged between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, with four cultures that live in harmony," former Barca and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and Ceuta-born Mohamed Ali Amar, better known as Nayim, told ESPN.
Ceuta, with a population of around 85,000 people and an area of just 7 square miles, has been in Spain's possession since 1580. However, Morocco does not officially recognise it as Spanish territory. That has led to flash points -- as recently as 2021, when the Moroccan government loosened border controls -- but Nayim says any diplomatic tension has not spilled into city life.
"It's an example for society," he said. "There are big Muslim and Christian communities and smaller Hebrew and Hindu communities. It's a city where you all live together very peacefully and enjoy the Mediterranean gastronomy."
Large swathes of the population have Moroccan roots from bygone generations, including Nayim. The city is closer to Tangier and Rabat than Madrid and Barcelona, which led to an interesting emotional tug-of-war when Morocco met at the World Cup in Qatar and stunned the world by winning the round-of-16 tie on penalties.
"I wasn't in the city for the game, but it evoked a lot of passion," added Nayim, who famously scored a stunning 119th-minute winner for Real Zaragoza against Arsenal in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final by lobbing goalkeeper David Seaman from 40 yards.
"[Morocco] proved they are not a small team and they got what they deserved. It was incredible how that [semifinal] run was experienced in Ceuta, but also across Morocco and in Spain, where there is a huge Moroccan population. They are passionate football people.
