Tangiers is such a stark contrast to Casablanca - cleaner and more beautiful with much better preserved old city centre. I was expecting Casablanca to be a favourite site and, maybe, that was just the romanticism from the movies, The city of Tangiers is not as spread along the coast line and the port not as big, but then the population is relatively small at about 1.3 million people. The topography is different with higher ridges fairly close to the water so, unlike Casablanca that is relatively flat, many of the residential structures here are layered up the hillside. The port is not well sheltered with the Strait of Gibraltar to the north and the Atlantic to the west; there was pretty much a continuous breeze throughout the day that was refreshing. As the sky was fairly clear we could see the coast of Spain across the strait.
From the ship it was easy to see parts of the fortress walls winding up the hill from the port. As we would discover on our walk, the fortification would have been pretty formidable in its day. Because of Tangier’s location and proximity to the European mainland, it was contested by many Mediterranean powers given competing control over the sea lanes - Phoenecians, Greek, Romans, Vandals, Goths, Moors, Arabs, Spain, Portugal, and Britain. The original Berbers were, at times, autonomous but at other times either subjugated under foreign rule (e.g. the Romans) or run into the Atlas Mountains and survived through guerrilla warfare. The fortress was enhanced by successive military powers through to World War II, the heavy artillery batteries remaining being of British construction. We ascended the four levels, or terraces, to gain appreciation of the different vantage points and the ingenuity of the construction for defense. As with Casablanca, more modern residences have been built into the original fortifications and within the walls is the Medina, or “old city” with its maze of narrow medieval alleys.
In our quest to reach the top of the hill and one of the fortress towers, we took a path in the old city that was parallel to the ocean wall to discover a colourful expression through decorated doorways. Most doors and windows were of a Moorish style with rounded dome-like features that were adorned with mosaic tiles and/or ornate wrought iron trim. Some were painted in bright vibrant colours and had unique ornamental door knockers. Every now and then a door would be open to allow a peek into a beautifully furnished courtyard that is typical of the medieval architecture of the time, a design especially influenced by Moors for privacy, security, and conceal women within the home.
On the exterior of some residences are structures similar to bay windows with elaborate shutters whereby women would be able to see out onto the streets but not, themselves, be revealed. And at the top of the buildings were rooftop terraces that are not visible from street level and, as with many medieval cities laundry is hung from balconies and windows.
Along the route was also our first exposure to hawkers and somewhat high to pressure tactics to follow paths to go into stores selling anything from trinkets and clothing to rugs. At one point we were tailed or “escorted” by a young man who was rather insistent until I got quite emphatic and very assertive with him. Of course I do understand that this is their job and way of making a living, so also part of the cultural experience one can expect here. And when we circled back through the old city we were in for more of a treat with the labyrinth of small shops and souks - it was a quite fascinating seeing all the spices and foods the locals use, as well as general housewares and, of course, souvenirs.
As it got closer to noon there were many more people out and about going about their daily business whilst dodging ship excursion groups and we other tourists. And while we were warned about pickpockets, at no point did it feel unsafe roaming about the old city. Similar to Casablanca, there was a lot of security presence including police although there was not the same overt display of arms. We particularly noticed that schools, academic institutions, and health facilities were gated and guarded.
And then there were cats…lots and lots of cats. Everywhere.
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