  We explore the phase diagram of the 5--D anisotropic Abelian Higgs model by
Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we study the transition between the
confining phase and the four dimensional layered Higgs phase. We find that, in
a certain region of the lattice parameter space, this transition can be first
order and that each layer moves into the Higgs phase independently of the
others (decoupling of layers).
