Carlos Perez Marin

   Comparing the historical development of distant places but with similar geographical conditions, that is, points of connection or contact between continents and seas, we can affirm that most tend to have a parallel history; intense, painful, enriching, alternating, cosmopolitan, temporary, timeless, atypical... All this due to the multiple disputes and conflicts originated by a desire, that of exercising control of those geographical areas, which translated (and translates) in economic, political, military, cultural, religious. advantages.. It is also curious how in Antiquity, development was based on the control and management of maritime territories that, over the years, became the means to exercise power over land territories. In contemporary times, maritime trade (already globalised) regains its importance and influence on the planet's economy. Incidents such as the Suez Canal accident in 2021 and the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Red Sea highlight the relationship between maritime routes and the planet's economy. If the main straits of the planet are blocked, the world economy is blocked.

   The global significance of these strategic crossings (with the exception of the Bering Strait, which loses relevance after Prehistory) is at the origin of so much and varied historical heritage bequeathed by civilisations, which do not necessarily come from nearby regions, but which have left their material and immaterial imprint on them. On the other hand, it so happens that most of these places have been related to each other at certain times in history; as a link so that hominids could expand to other continents; using the Mediterranean as a union between extreme places thanks to navigation and trade (especially in Phoenician, Greek, Roman or even contemporary times); as strategic points necessary to take or recover an empire (case of the Byzantines using Byzantium and Ceuta as the basis of their strategy or the Ottomans); as backbone elements between distant terrestrial territories (for example the Nile Delta with Persia, Numidia, Libya..., Ceuta with the Sahel, the Maghreb, the Middle East…).

   This last point, that of connections, would be an important aspect to study and compare because it allows an analysis and understanding of different territories, apparently disconnected but closely linked to each other, especially if they are located on the African continent. Historian François-Xavier Fauvelle (L’Afrique ancienne. De l’Acacus au Zimbabwe) maintains that the African continent cannot be reduced to individualised geographical spaces or to areas of material or immaterial civilisations, but rather to singular historical trajectories that are developed in the domains that are their own. These historical domains are space-times. It is these trajectories that would establish new geographies that would make Ceuta, for example, have a very close relationship with regions such as Haouz (Marrakech), the pre-Saharan regions of Morocco in Guelmim, Zagora and Rissani, with the Adrar of Mauritania (Azougui, Chinguetti and Ouadane), with Syria... connections that were carried out using the caravan routes (it is very likely that there were also those with Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Egyptian regions…).

   Finally, a “classification” could be established indicating which place has greater importance from the point of view of historical heritage, but this article cannot attempt to evaluate this relevance, although it would not be fair to base it only on the density of the legacy elements because this last aspect will depend on geographical conditions that would explain the differences. Let's take as reference the (approximate) dimensions of contact between continents (separation and length) and the characteristics of the continents and seas on each side of the straits:

Strait of Gibraltar: separation of 14 km and length of 57 km. The closest coast on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean would be Canada at 4,250 km.

Nile Delta: channels with widths less than 100 m and a length of 123 km. There is no separation from the Middle East and to the north, the Turkish coast is 500 km away.

Bab el-Mandeb Strait: separation of 29 km and length of 115 km. To the west, the Arabian Peninsula has a very low population density as it is a desert and in the Gulf of Aden, the closest coast crossing the Indian Ocean would be that of India, 3,200 km away.

Bosphorus Strait: separation of 800 m and length of 28 km. The opposite end of the Black Sea would be 505 km away.   

   With these geographical conditions, it is logical that there are places with a greater density of heritage since it is not the same as a strait connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas, as it is with the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, where the coasts, and consequently other populations, are thousands of kilometres away instead of tens or hundreds; we cannot compare a continent with fertile lands with one that is a desert. Even so, all these places have something in common, they have been, and are, strategic places for the global economy, which already gives them exceptionality.

   From the analysis of the historical heritage by phases of occupation in the Strait, we have seen that depending on the period there are cities that stand out from the others. For example, during Prehistory, and until new data appear, Gibraltar would be the most important city with the Gorham Caves in Gibraltar declared World Heritage. From Antiquity, Tangier has the main Phoenician sites, Carteia and Baelo Claudia the Romans, and Ceuta would house the most important Byzantine remains. From the Umayyad dynasty, the wall of Ceuta would be the most important construction. From the Almoravid and Almohad period, Tarifa and Gibraltar could have walls and towers almost as the only fortified testimonies but studies would have to be carried out to confirm this. As for the Merinids, in Ceuta the fortified enclosure of al-Mansura, the houses of Huerta Rufino and the public baths are visible. From the Modern Age, the Spanish walls of the 15th century in Gibraltar have no replica in the other cities, as well as the Portuguese fortifications of Ceuta (and to a certain extent Tangier) from the 16th century. Already in the 18th century, the walls of the land front of Ceuta and those of Mount Hacho were the most relevant group. From the 19th century onwards, the architectural heritage related to civil buildings, as well as transport infrastructure, began to compete with the fortified heritage, in such a way that Tangier and Gibraltar stood out with their architecture and Tarifa and Ceuta with their fortifications. To finish, during the 20th century, it is undoubtedly Gibraltar and its participation in the Second World War that stands out for its fortifications, but it will be the civil buildings of Ceuta and Tangier that stand out in the Strait due to their styles and variety.

   As we can see, there is no city that has clearly stood out throughout history, but we do find two whose occupations have been practically continuous since their foundations in Phoenician times: Tangier and Ceuta. Both would be among the oldest cities in Africa, and still inhabited, after Luxor (Egypt), Annaba (Algeria) and Carthage (Tunisia). Due to its greater proximity to the European continent, Ceuta would be the city with the most important historical heritage, being the main city of the Strait during the Byzantine Empire, during the period of al-Andalus (Tarik Ibn Ziad departed from it; the Umayyads arrived and fortified it to defend the Fatimid caliphate; the Almoravids ensured its occupation in order to maintain fluid communication in the Strait and turned it into an educational reference; during the Almohads it had reached such commercial development that they had to move their navy to the neighbouring port of Alcazarseguer; the Merinids developed it to the level of Fez in urban and cultural terms), for the Portuguese, with the conquest of Ceuta, began their expansion throughout Africa and Asia. In short, in a complex geographical environment, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, despite the enormous heritage legacy held by the cities that have been protagonists throughout history, Ceuta stands out among them all from a global perspective. Even so, we would still have to answer the following question:

   UNESCO considers that a historical asset has exceptional universal value if it meets one or more of the criteria mentioned at the beginning of this text. But we must not forget that to be deemed of Outstanding Universal Value, a property must also meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding (page 30). (Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, 2023). Let's see which ones could apply to Ceuta and its surroundings.

(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

The caliphal wall of Ceuta is probably the most important built element of the Strait, due to its age, its dimensions (originally it could have been close to 260 m in length) and for maintaining enough elements (towers, walls, gates…). However, is it an exceptional construction worldwide? From the same Umayyad period, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia and several fortresses in Jordan and Syria still stand. That is, the Umayyad heritage of Ceuta is not a heritage of universal and exceptional value. The same would happen if we made the same comparison with the Byzantine wall (especially if it were confirmed that it continues from the Bandera bastion to the Coraza bastion, reaching 225 m in length). Nonetheless, the representative fortifications of each historical period would not achieve exceptional universal values nor would they meet the conditions of integrity and austerity, but if we take into account the whole, we would not find anything like it in the world. In no other part of the planet we will find a Roman fortification (in a place already inhabited during Prehistory) on which another Byzantine one was built, then an Umayyad, Portuguese and Spanish one, each one attached to the pre-existing one and all of them visible from the interior spaces that have come to us.

(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

Throughout history, thanks to Ceuta and the Strait, this region has served as a transmission of cultures arriving by sea from the other end of the Mediterranean or from the Atlantic, or arriving by land from Europe, the Middle East, the Maghreb and the Sahel.

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living or which has disappeared;

The Benzú rockshelter and cave has provided data that has taken back to 250,000 years the moment in which Homo sapiens began to fish for shellfish. Furthermore, if the work carried out ends up demonstrating that there was an exchange between the populations that lived (even temporarily) on both sides of the Strait, this would open new perspectives regarding current theories of how the passage from one continent to another was carried out and even how the extinction of the Neanderthals occurred (we must not forget that this is one of the main reasons why Gibraltar has a World Heritage declaration).

(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

The military heritage of Ceuta makes up a catalog of fortifications that go from the 2nd century to the 20th century and is not only an evolution derived from pyroballistic advances, they are also representative of different civilisations and empires from up to three continents, Europe, Africa and Asia (Middle East). If the entire Strait were taken into account, the catalog would increase with the additions of British heritage, for example.

(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

The Benzú rockshelter and cave in Ceuta is the oldest settlement in the world in which hunting and gathering societies were also shellfish gatherers (250,000 BC). Furthermore, from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the salting culture in the Strait was fundamental for the economic development of the Mediterranean.

(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;

The Strait is the consequence of the movements between the African and European tectonic plates. In addition to its impact on terrestrial and marine fauna, its evolution could have been decisive in the passage of hominids from Africa to Europe.

(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

Currently the Strait is part of the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean, registered by UNESCO since 2006.

   According to these criteria, Ceuta could opt to be declared a World Heritage Site thanks to its long history and occupation, the role played as the main port of the Strait of Gibraltar and the catalog of fortifications it contains, from the 2nd century to the 20th century. On the other hand, the Strait could opt to be declared a Cultural Landscape as a living testimony of a geological process, responsible in turn for different phenomena and historical stages; crossing of hominids, a place of passage for marine and terrestrial fauna between two continents and between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, with a historical heritage representative of all the civilisations that have been part of its history, a history that has been key at specific moments of what is now Spain and Europe on the one hand, Morocco, the Maghreb, the Middle East and the Sahel on the other.

   Victor Fernández Salinas proposed, in 2015 (Criterios para la identificación y selección de paisajes españoles susceptibles de ser incluidos en la lista de Patrimonio Mundial de la Unesco, Víctor Fernández Salinas y Rocío Silva Pérez) Ceuta to be integrated into a candidacy along with the bay of Algeciras, the coast of the Strait to Bologna and the African coast of the Strait and Gibraltar to Tangier as a Cultural Landscape, to which titled The Strait of Gibraltar cultural bridge, so it seems that the approach made in this text has a certain coherence.

   If local administration were to rigorously explore the possibilities of Ceuta being declared a World Heritage Site and the Strait Cultural Landscape, it would be necessary to take into account the process to follow.

Credits texts, photos and drawings: Carlos Pérez Marín