Ceuta

... is a city on the southern shore of the Straits of Gibraltar. Monte Hacho (height 204 metres, or 669 feet), which overlooks the city, is one of several candidates to be the southern Pillar of Hercules.

Ceuta (pronounced SOO–ta or SAY–oo–ta) has been an important trading centre since the 5th century BC, when it was known as Abyla. It was ruled successively by the Romans, the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Byzantine Empire, and the Berbers. It was eventually destroyed during a rebellion in AD 740, but resettled by the Berbers in the 9th century. It was conquered in 1387 by the Kingdom of Fez (one of the four states of the Kingdom of Morocco), with assistance from the Crown of Aragon.

On 21 August 1415, King John I of Portugal led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as the Conquest of Ceuta. They caught the defenders of Ceuta off guard, and only suffered eight casualties; by nightfall the town was in Portuguese hands. John's son Henry, known as Henry the Navigator, distinguished himself in the battle and was wounded during the conquest.

In the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, when Portugal regained its independence, Ceuta was the only city of the Portuguese Empire that sided with Spain. On 1 January 1668, by the Treaty of Lisbon, King Afonso VI of Portugal ceded Ceuta to King Carlos II of Spain.

Ceuta was one of the first casualties of General Francisco Franco's uprising of 1936, which led to the Spanish Civil War. Having taken command of the Spanish Army of Africa, Franco seized Ceuta, while at the same time the city came under fire from the air and sea forces of the official Republican government.

In 1956, when Spain recognized the independence of Spanish Morocco, Ceuta remained under Spanish rule – along with the other Spanish territories on the Moroccan coast. Spain continues to consider them integral parts of the Spanish state, but Morocco disputes this.

Today, Ceuta is part of the Spanish region of Andalusia.

In MQL, the vetters pointed out that most people would answer "Spain" to this question, as it currently forms part of Spain. The setters chose to ignore this comment. In our game, the team to which it was first addressed did indeed answer "Spain"; the other team got it right when it was passed over. Another poor question, I'm afraid.