Asturias and Ceuta: two shores of the same history
At first glance, little connects Oviedo with Ceuta. A thousand kilometres, a strait in between, and two landscapes that could hardly be more different: green, Cantabrian Asturias and African Ceuta, gazing out over the Mediterranean. And yet history has woven more threads between the two lands than it seems. From the Visigothic kingdom to the Legion, from Covadonga to El Hacho, Asturias and Ceuta are two shores of the same history.
The Visigothic root: Septem and the kingdom of Toledo
Ceuta was born as Septem, the city of the seven hills. Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans — who regarded it as Hispania Transfretana, the Hispania beyond the strait — all passed through it. In 534 it was conquered by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, but the Visigoths of the kingdom of Toledo would not tolerate that presence: King Sisebut recovered it in 615, and Ceuta became part of Visigothic Hispania.
And here appears the first knot tying it to Asturias. The governor of Ceuta was Count Julian, a figure halfway between history and legend. According to tradition, having fallen out with King Roderic, he lent his ships to Tariq ibn Ziyad’s troops, which crossed the strait in 710 and 711 and brought down the Visigothic kingdom at Guadalete. Whether myth or reality, from those ships sailed the chain of events that led, eleven years later, to the Battle of Covadonga (722), where Pelagius founded the kingdom of Asturias, proclaiming himself heir of the Goths.
In other words: Visigothic Ceuta is the prologue to the Asturias born at Covadonga.
Spanish Ceuta: four centuries of loyalty
In 1415, John I of Portugal conquered Ceuta. When Philip II inherited the Portuguese crown in 1580, the city passed to the Hispanic Monarchy. And in 1640, as Portugal became independent under the Braganzas, Ceuta made a decision that would mark it forever: it refused to recognise the new Portuguese king and chose to remain Spanish under Philip IV.
Since then, Ceuta has withstood every siege, including the longest in military history: Sultan Mulay Ismail’s siege between 1694 and 1727 — thirty-three years. That condition of stronghold, of Spain’s living frontier, is something Asturias understands well: a land of passage, of defence, and of pride.
Asturias and Covadonga, in uniform in Morocco
The most literal link came in the 20th century, with Asturian names embroidered on the uniform. After the Disaster of Annual in July 1921, the Commanding General of Ceuta urgently requested reinforcements. On 30 July, the first battalions of the Infantry Regiments “Asturias” No. 31 and “Covadonga” No. 40 landed at Río Martín, near Tetouan, having arrived from Madrid via Cádiz.
That two regiments named Asturias and Covadonga came to the relief of the Ceuta area is no metaphor: it is documented military history. And it was no isolated episode. The Spanish Legion was born in Ceuta in 1920, created by Millán-Astray and based at the Cuartel del Rey, and the Ceuta No. 3 Regulares Group remains garrisoned there. For decades, generations of Asturians did their military service in Ceuta and Melilla; for many families in the Principality, North Africa is part of family memory.
There is also a dark chapter binding both lands by force: in October 1934, Regulares and legionnaires were sent to put down the revolution in Asturias. Shared history is not always kind, but it is shared.
Two patron saints for two frontiers
Asturias has La Santina of Covadonga. Ceuta has Santa María de África, its patron saint, whose sanctuary was raised by the Portuguese and rebuilt in the time of Charles II. Two Virgins for two frontier lands, two peoples who have lived facing the sea and defending themselves from it. It is no coincidence that the Archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, chose precisely the feast of the Virgin of Covadonga, on 8 September 2026, to speak in his homily about the situation in Ceuta.
Today: Asturias stands with Ceuta
The bond is still alive. In September 2026, thousands of Asturians filled the squares of Oviedo, Gijón and Villaviciosa in support of Ceuta amid the border crisis, in a call backed by town councils across the Principality. President Adrián Barbón expressed Asturias’s solidarity with the people of Ceuta.
And there was solidarity in the most literal sense too: the neighbourhood campaign “Ante el Racismo, Sofitu Vecinal”, born in Asturias, brought humanitarian aid to Ceuta from 19 to 22 September 2026. Gijón native Diana Luaces and her companions gathered food, blankets, sleeping bags and medicines in two weeks across Gijón, Oviedo, Mieres and L’Entregu, and travelled to the autonomous city to distribute them and spend 7,000 euros in local Ceutan shops.
On 13 and 14 October 2026, the King and Queen will travel to Ceuta and Melilla. It will be Felipe VI’s first visit to both cities, including during his years as Prince of Asturias. The circle closes: the former Prince of Asturias visits the city that once formed part of the kingdom of which Asturias claims to be heir.
Two shores, one history
From Visigothic Septem to Spanish Ceuta, from Covadonga to El Hacho: thirteen centuries on, Asturias and Ceuta still gaze at each other across the strait. Two small, frontier, proud lands that have learned that history knows nothing of kilometres.
