Spain should consider returning Ceuta to Morocco, a Foreign Policy article argues, saying the enclave’s disputed status is an outdated geopolitical anomaly that creates unnecessary tensions and leaves Europe vulnerable to migration pressure at one of its most unusual borders.
The analysis, published on Aug. 6, examines the history of Ceuta and its position on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, arguing that the territory’s status cannot be separated from the broader legacy of European colonialism in North Africa.
The magazine argues that returning Ceuta to Morocco would remove the possibility of the enclave being used as a backdoor into Europe’s Schengen area, while also resolving a territorial dispute that has remained frozen for decades.
The argument comes after a major migration crisis in which large numbers of people attempted to enter Ceuta from Morocco, exposing the peculiar vulnerability created by Spain’s possession of territory on the African mainland.
For Morocco, Ceuta’s status has long been regarded as an unfinished chapter of decolonization. Rabat maintains that the city, along with Melilla, is Moroccan territory and has repeatedly called for the issue to be addressed through dialogue. Spain, however, considers Ceuta and Melilla integral parts of its territory and rejects Morocco’s sovereignty claims.
The Foreign Policy analysis underscores the contradiction at the heart of the dispute: Ceuta is geographically African, surrounded almost entirely by Morocco, yet functions as an external border of the European Union and the Schengen area.
The latest migrant crisis also demonstrated how quickly the border can become a pressure point between Africa and Europe. What appears on a map as a small Spanish territory has consequences far beyond its size, linking migration policy, European border security and Morocco-Spain relations.
The article’s proposal is therefore more than a territorial adjustment. It suggests that resolving Ceuta’s status could remove a persistent source of friction between Morocco and Spain while eliminating an anomalous European gateway on African soil.
For Madrid, relinquishing Ceuta would be a historic and politically difficult decision. Yet the recent crisis has underscored the costs of the status quo: a territory that Spain considers unquestionably European remains physically embedded in Morocco and vulnerable to the geopolitical dynamics of North Africa.
From this perspective, Foreign Policy’s argument challenges the assumption that maintaining Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta is necessarily the most rational long-term option. Returning the territory to Morocco, it argues, could transform a recurring source of confrontation into an opportunity to settle one of the region’s most enduring territorial disputes.
