Put the trade-offs on one screen.

Less romantic than Tarifa, but strategically excellent: you can hold west, east or bay-side weather branches until the short-range forecast settles.

A strong “sleep inside your Plan B” base: good totality, a favourable historical cloud signal and options both east and west.

A good premium/comfort base with meaningful totality. San Pedro/Nueva Andalucía improves the westbound Plan B compared with central/eastern Marbella.

A practical eastern-Strait base if your Plan B points toward Estepona while retaining access toward Algeciras/Tarifa.

Stay in Tarifa itself if possible. The value drops quickly if your plan depends on driving into town on eclipse morning.

Useful if you want a beach-first trip with easier southbound options than Cádiz. August demand is naturally high, so flexibility matters.

Good for viewers who value the Atlantic coast and a less urban base, but smaller accommodation depth makes early booking more important.

The robust move is to sleep where you can walk to a viewing area. La Victoria/Puerta Tierra is stronger than the old town if road exit flexibility matters.

Best if flight simplicity matters more than maximum duration. Stay west of the centre if a later move toward Marbella/Estepona is part of your plan.

Strong if you want Melilla itself as the destination. It is weak as a mobile weather base because rapid repositioning to other Spanish eclipse regions is impractical.

Excellent astronomy, but your weather Plan B is less flexible because changing regions means crossing the Strait. Treat Ceuta as a deliberate commitment, not a last-minute branch.