Disputed Lands

      There exist hundreds of territorial disputes, most of which we are largely unaware of (aside, perhaps, from the most newsworthy...such as the disputed land in Israel). Many of these territories, in spite of the fact that their ownership is disputed, are controlled fully by one of the disputed claimants. Such is the case, for example, with the Rock of Gibraltar: a U.K. controlled territory within the geographic boundary of Spain.

     Morocco is surrounded by disputed land. In the south, there is a huge conflict over the Western Sahara region. While many nations consider the Western Sahara to be an independent country, Morocco does not. In the north, there are six additional small territories claimed by both Morocco and Spain. Spain currently maintains full control over all of them, in spite of the dispute. The largest of these six territories are Ceuta and Melilla. Both areas are permanently inhabited by the Spanish, even though they are situated within northern Morocco.

    In our previous post, we challenged you to guess where we were going for our vacation. We said that we were leaving Morocco without actually leaving Morocco. The answer: Ceuta. 

     Four hours after leaving Casablanca, we arrived at the Ceuta border crossing. Prior to crossing the border we were surrounded by sheep, charcoal, and grills (a sign that the Eid sheep slaughtering was about to begin). Immediately after crossing the border, the sheep signs were replaced with an abundance of pork butchers (A concept completely forbidden by the Moroccan culture we had been in moments before). Only those of you who have lived more than a year in a Muslim country can truly appreciate how wonderful this change was.
    Ceuta is an extremely tiny city. We literally hiked across the entire area in about 3 hours (including the time it took to hike up the highest peak of Ceuta: Mount Hacho). We also spent some time relaxing on the Mediterranean beach. However, while we did enjoy both of these things, the highlight of our trip to Ceuta was the pork products. For 3.5 days we filled our stomachs with bacon, ham, salami, and roasted pork loin. Delicious. Of course, we also brought plenty of pork products back home with us as well.

we love pork

-David & Nicole