WI: Ceuta for Gibraltar

800px-Strait_of_Gibraltar_perspective.jpg


Gibraltar is left, Ceuta on other side of Strait, right.

So, is there, during history, a possibility that Spain exchanges Ceuta for Gibraltar with the UK?

They both have the similar position, both are fortified, fine harbour etc.
 
Last edited:
Gibraltar was only held when it was put to siege because it was supplied by food from Morocco. If Ceuta is held by the UK then the political will to supply them with food with Morocco is a lot less. Which makes Ceuta less defensible against the Spanish.
 
Gibraltar was only held when it was put to siege because it was supplied by food from Morocco. If Ceuta is held by the UK then the political will to supply them with food with Morocco is a lot less. Which makes Ceuta less defensible against the Spanish.

Well, presumably the Spanish wouldn't hold such a grudge against British Ceuta, after all, it's in Africa, not in Spanish mainland. That would the point of swap.
 
Well, presumably the Spanish wouldn't hold such a grudge against British Ceuta, after all, it's in Africa, not in Spanish mainland. That would the point of swap.

The whole point of having a base there is to be able to project power in the med even with an unfriendly or hostile spanish government.

You'd need a really strong reasons for the british government to want spanish friendship more than they want that. Because friendships end but power projection is for ever.
 
Ceuta allows them to project power there just as well.

Yes, but the British fully expected to go to war with Spain again, if not now, then at some point in the future. Ceuta is slightly more inconvenient for invading Spain so why trade? As someone else pointed out above, friendship is temporary but strategic mountain fortresses are forever.
 
Ceusta is also strategic mountain fortress. But I doubt that the British would think about Gibraltar as some starting point of some British invasion of Spain? Portugal could be much better springboard.

Also, Ceuta is much better defensible against the Spanish attacks than Gibraltar and Morocco is far weaker opponent than Spain. Ceuta is also 3x larger than Gibraltar.
 
Yes, but the British fully expected to go to war with Spain again, if not now, then at some point in the future. Ceuta is slightly more inconvenient for invading Spain so why trade? As someone else pointed out above, friendship is temporary but strategic mountain fortresses are forever.

You can't invade Spain from Gibraltar. The great benefit of Gibraltar is it's really difficult to get troops on and off it from the land.
 
I know. And it isn'a much easier to do that in Ceuta.

800px-Ceuta_en.png


As you can see, Ceuta isn't much different from Gibraltar.

Like I've said before the biggest problem that Gibraltar got it's food from Morocco when Spain was proving difficult.

If Spain proves difficult and the British are in Ceuta instead, where is that food coming from?

It's worth remembering too that the British held Tangiers for several years and it was under almost constant attack which would be remembered by the British higher ups.
 
Like I've said before the biggest problem that Gibraltar got it's food from Morocco when Spain was proving difficult.

If Spain proves difficult and the British are in Ceuta instead, where is that food coming from?

It's worth remembering too that the British held Tangiers for several years and it was under almost constant attack which would be remembered by the British higher ups.

The whole point of swap is to reduce/abolish UK-Spanish friction over Gibraltar. Now, I'm not sure would Spanish accept that, but if yes, that's allready a very good sign.

British Tangiers would also be interesting POD.
 
Top