Morocco: Tangier - Gateway to Africa, Deccan Herald 16/1/11
by Colin Todhunter
By the time I reached Tangier, the day had turned angry.
As I walked toward the medina to find a hotel that was listed in my guide book, the storm clouds had gathered.
At the entrance to the medina a torn hand covered a woman’s sunken face.
Her child stared at an empty plate.
Crouching against a wall, with a blackened sky for a roof and a cobbled street for a bed, I guessed it would be another long day for them both.
Close by, the mist engulfed the ferry boats making their way to Spain.
Although Tangier might feel a long way from home to many visitors, Europe nestles in the mist across the bay, a mere 20 miles away.
Tangier sits on the Mediterranean Sea at the jaws of the Atlantic, near the Straits of Gibraltar. It is where Africa meets Europe, where modernity meets tradition.
Spanish and Portugeuse colonial architecture jostle for attention with new high rises, pavement cafes look out on to fruit and vegetable markets and French style patisseries compete with cafes selling tagines, cous cous, schwarma (hot slices of meat served in flatbread) and grilled fish, fresh from the markets.
The original walled centre is the heart and soul of the city.
It boasts endless narrow, winding streets lined with houses, hotels and cafes.
The medina has been around since medieval times and teems with shops specialising in handicrafts made from wood and silver, traditional clothing and shoes of Moroccan origin.
Although it is quite a sprawling affair, it is still easy to negotiate by foot, and occupies the perfect location on a hill overlooking the sea and the long beach-lined bay fringed with modern buildings.
The medina has a lot of charm, and the Petit Socco (Small Square) is great for a coffee.
My cheap (400 rupees per night), crumbling colonial style hotel was just off the Socco, and stumbling out of the hotel into the square each morning was always a delight.
It was all too easy to spend half the day in one of the pavement coffee houses just people watching.
I guess that’s what a good proportion of Moroccan men do, who seem to spend most of their time in coffee houses seeking respite from home life.
After coffee, it was usually time for me to wander around the maze of alleys.
I always managed to come across some or other gem.
If it wasn’t the old Sultan’s Palace overlooking the Med, it was the Grand Socco (Main Square) just outside the city walls, where traditional products are made and sold and coffee shops and cafes are packed with locals talking about the issues of the day.
Tangier is the gateway to Africa, or should that be the stepping stone to Europe?
It depends on how you choose to look at it. Maybe because of its position, Tangier is, for me at least, Morocco’s most engaging city.
So much so that, after having visited all of the country’s major urban centres, if I had to live anywhere in Morocco then I suppose I would choose Tangier.
I am not alone in thinking this. Tangier has a somewhat legendary standing in modern popular culture.
The city acquired the reputation as a spying and smuggling centre during the 19th and 20th centuries and was a very pivotal location during the Second World War.
It also attracted writers like William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Orson Welles and Tennessee Williams. Along with the Rolling Stones, they all lived in or visited the city for extended periods. The artist Matisse also made the city home at various points. Tennessee Williams actually penned a draft of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Tangier beach.
For decades, between 1920 and the late 1950s, Tangier was a playground for the party crowd, adventure seekers and the rich and famous, attracting all those seeking a tax haven or an exotic destination.
The city played host to eccentric millionaires and was a meeting place for secret agents and crooks.
Speculators and gamblers were also to be seen. When Spain finally handed Tangier back to Morocco, its international duty-free status went with it, and the city lost a great deal of its flair.
But, even now, Tangier remains a popular tourist destination for cruise ships and day visitors from Spain.
Although the writers, spies, artists and shady characters may have all but deserted the city, these days the city is far from drab.
Tourists are rediscovering its palpable charm, and the new part of the city has undergone rapid modernisation. Five star hotels are now found along the bay, and a modern business district is springing up.
The attractive broad boulevards of the newer part of the city, with their art deco buildings provide a touch of European chic so much so that for a moment or two you could be forgiven that you are in Marseille or some other southern European city.
The European link is to be expected though. Les Grottes d'Hercules (Caves of Hercules) are ten kilomtres east of the city and are located where mythology claims Hercules split Africa and Europe, blasting the two land masses apart with his mace while completing one of his 12 labours.
But it’s not just the proximity.
The Portuguese and Spanish colonised Morocco for centuries, and Morocco only took back Tangier from Spain in 1956.
In parts, the city exudes an atmosphere of decayed grandeur, which is indeed part of the attraction. Despite its fall from glory, a stylish café society still exists along many of Tangier's boulevards, and merchants in the medina are doing good trade.
If you require character, Tangier has it in abundance.
Who knows, when there you may be tempted to take the ferry leaving from the port just below the medina to Spain and overland through Europe.
I was certainly tempted.
I eventually decided to head south back to Marrakesh to leave the easy way – by plane.
