Falling in love with Tangier is not all that easy. While Moroccan tourist police in recent years have cracked down on unpleasant guiding, nothing has changed in Tangier, and the strong ties between the police, local authorities and the local mafia makes Tangier a difficult port for travellers with no earlier Morocco experience. Fortunately, Tangier is still less dangerous than the south of Spain, which is only an hour of ferry ride away.



The anarchy of Tangier has many faces: When the sun sets the city is turned into a city which can be unsafe, quite different from the rest of Morocco. And handicrafts in Tangier are far more expensive than elsewhere in Morocco, where things to a certain extent is under official control. The town beach is profoundly filthy, while other main beaches in Morocco has an administration which cleans the sand on a regular basis. Kids beg for money on every corner, and "official" guides pester you everywhere.



But if you are of the relaxed type, or if you have already been around Morocco for a bit, Tangier is definately worth a visit. There is a lot to see around here, the city is lively, and if you jump into a taxi clean and beautiful beaches are 10 minutes away. And Tangier still carries the aura of being a a celebrities' magnet and of once having been under international administration.
And do not forget: Tangier is the real model for the famous American film "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

One of the main centres of afternoon and early evening activities in Tangier is along the beach walk. This photo is made from its very beginning, and at first old colonial houses dominated, but that is really before you get close to the beach.
Further on, modern houses dominate. Activities here are rather common, people walk up and down this avenue size street, looking at people and allowing others to look at them.

There are several Atlantic beaches west of Tangier, which all offer a good alternative to the town beach. The setting of these beaches can be most attractive, with mountains on all sides, yet with a wide and clean beach with all necessary amenities.

The medina of Tangier is a real one: Streets are narrow, houses in many different styles, and most of this medina is in good condition. That is a proof that even people with some money both live and work here.
The medina is quite big, and there are many commercial areas. Most of these serve the tourist traffic, and it is more difficult to find any areas where real handcraft is performed.
Other areas are solely devoted to living, and there are plenty of nice houses, painted doors, decorated gates and rose bushes all around.


This is one of the shops you should just walk by. It has a system of fixed prices, and you will only be able to haggle it down a little bit. But that is not the biggest problem: they sell things here at 2-5 times normal tourist price. And it is the very same products, this shop has not got any better quality! Its name: Bazar Marrakech la Rouge.

The gate to the medina near the Great Mosque is one of the more popular, as it connects directly to the beach walk. It is also the easiest entry to the most fascinating parts of the old parts of Tangier, and you will immediately find yourself walking in narrow streets which soon ends up in the Petit Socco.

The Petit Socco in the medina must be the 100 square metres of Tangier with the worst reputation. Right here, drug deals are made, human smuggling planned and prostitution performed.
But after sitting there in a coffee shop (from where I made this photo) for two hours, trying to spot any of these activities, I had to give up: The youths behind me had been discussing nothing but football, and the guests in the pension on the photo had been nothing but men, even if it is supposed to be Tangier's most well-known brothel.

A walk along the Atlantic side of Tangier is really charming. Only few houses have managed to put their feet down before the hill becomes too steep. And by some strange coincidence history has made this into the poor people's quarters.
Whenever I walk around here, I ask myself in such a European way: Do they know that they live in the best part of the town. Because, who could want more than the great view of the Atlantic and the wide and empty beach?

Spices, herbs and everything you need for a good life. And of course, the vendor throws in some good stories, too.

Socco is the Spanish version of the Arabic word for market: suuq. But with the Spanish long gone, the word Socco survives in Tangier. The Grand Socco is located right north-east of the medina, and is no longer a market place.
Today it is a meeting place and a transportation junction, principally for taxis. The Grand Socco is also point where the modern city's street are forced to continue in the narrow streets of the old city.


In a place where life styles and house styles mix as much as at the Grand Socco, it only feels natural that the old gate to the old city is flanked by modern Western-style houses.

The Kasbah place fronts the former sultanate palace, which now has been converted into a museum. The Kasbah was earlier this century one of the most attractive areas of Tangier, but it has lost quite a bit of its old attractions, and there is a strangely remote and empty feeling to it.
The Kasbah place is dominated by its fortifications which are in very good condtion.

This is the main entrance to the Kasbah. Note its very good condition — you almost get the feeling that it is still serving its purpose of keeping people both out and in.

The Dar El Makhzen was built by sultan Moulay Ismail, and is organized around two inner courtyards. While the palace was not of the largest a sultan could reside in, this one is still tastefully finished with wooden ceilings, arabesques and marble fountains.
The palace was abandoned in 1912, and was later turned into a museum of art and architecture. Among its exhibits you will find old examples of craftsmanship, but it is probably the finds from Volubilis which is the most interesting for most visitors.

Place de France is one of the focal points for activities in the modern parts of Tangier. Some of the busiest streets radiates from it but with all the cafés around here, it is a place where many stop to have a coffee and meet friends.
Gran Cafe de Paris is a landmark in Tangier, and the place where foreign agents, expatriates and Moroccan nationalists used to meet through all the changing periods of Tangier in this century. Even today it is one of the city's most popular places, and very different from many other fashionable cafés in Morocco you get good coffee here. Outside, cheap plastic chairs destroy the ambience, but the interior is almost unchanged with deep skin chairs.

Tangier has many palaces, and many of them have been well taken care of. Styles and size vary, but many are of high artistic class, like this one. It used to belong to American multimillionaire Malcolm Forbes. The house is not very large, but the property is more impressive. It is open for visitors because of exhibit of Forbes' collection of military miniatures.

By: Tore Kjeilen.    Copyright © 1996- 2004 LexicOrient, Oslo, Norway. Worldwide rights reserved. This article, with its images, its photos, its music, may not be reproduced or stored in any form, without the consent of the publishers.