Ceuta Day ( es, Día de Ceuta), celebrated in

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

on 2 September, is a holiday marking the date when Pedro de Meneses, 1st Count of Vila Real), became the first Governor of Ceuta by King

John I of Portugal John I ( pt, João �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in a succession war with Casti ...

, following the

Conquest of Ceuta The conquest of Ceuta by the Portuguese on 21 August 1415 marks an important step in the beginning of the Portuguese Empire in Africa. History In 711, shortly after the Arab conquest of North Africa, the city of Ceuta was used as a stagin ...

Legend

(while

was canvassing for governors, the young Pedro was nearby, distractedly playing ''choca'' (a kind of Medieval hockey) with a stick of ''zambujeiro'' or Aleo (wild olive tree). Hearing all the high nobles making excuses to avoid the job, the young Pedro de Menezes stepped forward and approached the king with his gaming stick (''aleo'') in hand and told him that, with only that stick, he could defend Ceuta from all the power of Morocco."Eu só com este páu, sou capaz de defender Ceuta, de todo o poder dos mouros", as reported in ''Portugal antigo e moderno'', 1878
p.495
Another recitation of the legend places it a little later, c. 1418, when Pedro de Menezes was visiting Lisbon. He was playing ''truque'' (a type of

shuffleboard Shuffleboard (more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as floor shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a ma ...

) in the king's court, when a messenger arrived with the news that the Marinids were assembling an army to retake Ceuta. The king ordered Pedro de Menezes (who was already governor of Ceuta) to return immediately to Ceuta, and promised that he (the king) would do what he could to dispatch reinforcements. D. Pedro de Menezes held up his shuffleboard stick and told the king not to hurry the reinforcements, that he could fend off the might of Morocco with that stick alone. See Z.N. Gonçalves Brandão, 1883, ''Monumentos e lendas de Santarem ''
p.514
/ref> As a result of this story, all future Portuguese governors of Ceuta would be presented with a ''zambujeiro'' staff as a symbol of their office upon their investiture.) The aleo that was used by Pedro is kept in the Church of Santa María de África in Ceuta, the statue of Mary holds the aleo. 'Aleu' or 'aleo' can be seen on the coat of arms of

Alcoutim Alcoutim () is a town and a municipality in southeastern Portugal near the Portugal–Spain border. The population in 2011 was 2,917, in an area of 575.36 km². It is the least densely populated municipality in Portugal. The municipality is ...

and

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality covers ...

, where Pedro's descendants were made Count's of Alcoutim or Count's of Vila Real respectively.

References

National days September observances Public holidays in Spain Ceuta Autumn events in Spain {{Holiday-stub