The Pillars of Hercules by Paul Theroux (1995) — Theroux's account of travelling the length of the Mediterranean coastline by surface transport begins and ends at Gibraltar and passes through Ceuta. His portrait of the enclave — its strange status, its border crossings, its layered European and African identities — is sharp and funny. A good companion for anyone making the Algeciras ferry crossing.
Tangerines (Un lun dun in Spanish) by Tahar Ben Jelloun (1976) — Ben Jelloun's early novel, written from the Moroccan side of the fence that divides Ceuta from the Rif, deals with migration, border life, and the peculiar gravity of places where two worlds press against each other. The specific geography of the Ceuta-Fnideq border underlies the whole book.
Moorish Spain by Richard Fletcher (1992) — A lucid, readable history of Andalusia and the Maghreb from the Arab conquest to the fall of Granada, covering the centuries when Ceuta was a major Islamic port and crossing point. Fletcher writes history without jargon. Understanding what happened here between 711 and 1492 makes the walls and the cathedral make sense.
Franco: A Biography by Paul Preston (1993) — The Spanish Civil War began in Ceuta and the Spanish Moroccan Protectorate in July 1936. Preston's definitive biography of Franco covers the Africanistas — the Spanish officers like Franco himself who spent their careers in Morocco and Ceuta and who launched the coup from this soil. Dense but thorough, and essential context for anyone curious about why the fortifications have a Spanish flag on them.