After an initial lightning tour of Tangier, my mind was filled with
what I had read about its most well-known writers: Muhammad Shukri, Altaher bin
Jalloun, Paul Bowels, Tennessee Williams, etc., I saw more than a single city
in one place with buildings carrying the styles of different periods of history.
I looked at people s faces
trying in vain to identify what they express of the city s spirit or secret. I
breached the Mediterranean air along the fine corniche road. I drank minted tea
in a Mediterranean-style café. As I watched world famous writers and artists
visiting the city I felt the blow of the legendary winds of this city located
at the extreme part of Morocco s North Africa, overlooking the world, guarding
the Strait of Gibraltar and looking at those who pass through it.
According to a popular legend in Tangier, after the Flood, Noah s
ark got lost in search of land, and one day, as a pigeon with muddy claws
alighted on the ark the passengers shouted Alteen ga, Alteen ga , i.e. We ve
reached land (in Arabic), hence the area was named Tanga .
A Greek legend has it that a lengendary person named Anti , the son
of Posidion and Gaya, used to kill passengers and made a temple of their skulls
which he presented to his father and named his kingdom Tinga , which stretched
from Septa to Lexus, the golden apple city, near Larache. Hercules defeated
Anti in a fierce battle and his swords cut the strait between Europe and
Morocco and his famous grottos. Afterwards he married Anti s wife who gave
birth to his son Sophocs who established the colony of Tangies .
The Grotto of Hercules, in the heart of the legend
I remembered the above legend as I stood inside the Grotto of
Hercules looking at the Atlantic where it meets the Mediterranean through its
famous aperture which looks like the map of Africa engraved on rock. The town
of Tarifa, the nearest Spanish town to Tangier, can be seen through the
aperture.
Lit by the sun through the aperture and small lamps, the grotto
does not look large. I visualized the place which Hercules made his HQ and the
corners which the city s defenders and adventurers used as a shelter up to the
modern times as it is used by he idlers and lovers to meet there.
I looked at the grotto s rock walls again, imagining the secrets it
has, th battles and plots it witnessed and probably stories of military leaders
and foreign travellers as well as locals, including lovers whose whispers were
only heard by the walls. But the poor imaginary painting of Hercules by a
mediocre painter on the wall leading to the grotto made my knowledge of it
waver between certainty and doubt, fact and myth.
I walked around the city alone once, and with my friend the writer
Abdul-Rahim Alallam and my colleague the photographer many times. My previous
visit to Tangier in which I failed to locate the restaurant in which the
eminent writer Muhammad Shukri used to eat daily and write occasionally mode
finding the place this time a top priority.
Tracking Muhammad Shukri
I was eager to track Muhammad Shukri not only out of my literary
interests but also because my first knowledge of Tangier was through reading
his famous books. The Bare Bread and the Clever and other non-fiction books, e.g.
about Paul Bowels and The Internal Souk. Tangier, which was the main theme in
most of his works, looked a mixture of the old and new, heritage and modernity,
local and foreign, Africa and Europe, old gates of kasbahs and the limitless
ocean.
That s what visitors to this city easily feel: a shift from one
place and one age to another, like moving from a visit to Ritz Hotel, where
Shukri spent part of his life, in the modern part of the city on the
Mediterranean, like Alexandria, e.g., and a visit to Ibn Battuta s house in a
narrow alley in the old kasbah with its Andalusian-style buildings or to the
internal souk with its colonial Moresque architectural style.
However, most of those who wrote about Tangier were only interested
in its legendary aspect. Criticising them, Shukri wrote: Most of what is
written about Tangier today is in the form of postcards. A writer who stays a
few weeks in Tangier writes a book and brags about his knowledge of secrets,
glory and celebrities who passed by. Many of those who wrote the shallow
postcards are after free popularity, so are their customers, those fascinated
by what is strange and the Arabian Nights.
The strong interest in writing about Tangier may be due to the
large number of celebrities who visited it, either spending the rest of their
life there, as the American writer Paul Bowels did, or spending part of their
life, such as William Burroughs. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Croac, from the
American age of anger whose writings in 1950s were a revolt against American
society and values. Other famous foreign artists, politicians, writers,
bohemians, in addition to spies and adventurers loved Tangier dearly. Among
those was the American dramatist Tennessee Williams, some of whose plays were
inspired by the spirit of Tangier, as well as the French writer Jean Jinet, who
spent part of his life there and was a friend of Shukri s. Most of those
writers used to frequent many cafés in central Tangier, including the famous
Café de Paris near King Muhammad V Street.
I was lucky enough to visit the café with the Moroccan writer
Altaher bin Jalloun, who happened to be in Tangier, and do a brief interview
with him in which Tangier was the main theme, particularly in view of the fact
that he chose Tangier to live in parts of his stay in Morocco and wrote two
novels set mainly there: Asilent Day in Tangier and That You Go, which discusses
Tangier s immigrants to Spain.
The Loafers Square
Mention of the café reminded me of a nearby small square on the
Atlantic surrounded by two guns of the Spanish occupation era: the Loafers or
Idlers Square, with many youth sitting and looking at the end of the strait
where Spain s hills are their dream and hope, whereas the city itself is the
hope of many foreigners who enjoy living there- another sign of contradiction.
This contradiction is more clearly seen in Alhafa Café, one of the
cafés which Shukri used to frequent. Located on a wound overlooking the
Atlantic, the café is divided into levels like a football stadium with trees
everywhere and rows of small brass tables and chairs. Bees swarm round the
customers, most of whom are young men and women, drinking minted tea. Looking
at nearbye Spain excites the imagination of job seekers.
Alhafa Café, a view of Spain
In his novel That You Go, bin Jalloun wrote: In winter Alhafa Café
in Tangier becomes the meeting place of dreamers, as if Mershan s mastaba,
cemetery and large bankery cats gather there to see what is going on silently,
not deceiving anybody. Long hookahs move from table to table. Cups of minted
tea get cold surrounded by falling bees. Customers sit motionless Others sit on
mats with their backs leaning against the wall looking at the horizon as if
looking for what fate holds in store for them They look at the sea, clouds
mixed with mountains, waiting for the first evening s lights from Spain.
After visiting the Grotto we went to the popular internal souk in
the old area with rows of shops where a wide variety of products is sold:
vegetables, food, sweets, electrical and sanitary ware, traditional
handicrafts, etc. Above these shops rise a number of Moresque- style buildings
mixed with a colonial spirit, as is the case in many popular residential areas
in Alexandria and other coastal Mediterranean cities.
Before entering the souk through the Andalusian-style decorated
archway I looked at the wide 9 April Square with its fountain in the middle and
the Andalusian-style Grand Mosque with its characteristic square minaret and
green ceiling. The mosque was converted into a church during the Portuguese
occupation era and was restored by the Alawis in 1688 and underwent restoration
and extension works. All decoration arts were used mosaic, ceramic, painting
and wood and gypsum engraving. The prayer house consists of three parallel
porticoes and the qibla and a court with a portico on each side. The mosque
represents the Alawi era s simple style of architecture.
History of Tangier
What follows is a brief account of the history of Tangier based on
some sources. It is known that Tangier was founded by the Carthaginians in the
fifth century BC and soon after became a major Mediterranean trading centre. It
became a Roman province in the first century AD, and after he fall of the Roman
Empire it was occupied by the Vandals in the fifth century AD, then the
Byzantines in the sixth century, recaptured by the Romans and conquered by the
Umayyads in AD 702.
Tangier regained its vitality with the start of the Islamic
conquests of Andalusia led by Tariq bin Ziad in 711, then the Almoravids and
Almohads, who made Tangier their base and HQ. Successive invasions by the
Spanish, Portuguese and British continued from1471 to 1684 which left their
mark on the old city walls, towers and churches.
But the most important period in terms of culture and urban
development in Tangier s middle- ages and modern history was during the age of
the Alawi sultans, particularly Sultan Ismail and Sidi Muhammad bin Abdullah.
After recapturing the city from the British during the former sultan s age it
restored its military, diplomatic and trading role as a gateway to the
Mediterranean countries and, accordingly, witnessed significant urban
development. Many walls, forts and gates were built. Religious and social life
flourished as well. Mosques, palaces, fountains, baths and souks were built, in
addition to churches, consulates and large houses for foreign residents.
Tangier thus became a diplomatic capital with ten consulates in 1830 as well as
an international city which attracted traders and adventurers because of the
tax concessions it offered.
The year 1921 witnessed the victory of Emir Abdul Karim Alkhatabi
against the Spanish, which led to further political disturbances in Spain and
made Tangier relatively freer.
The population of Tangier at the turn of the 20th century was about
40,000, including 20,000 Muslims, 10,000 Jews, 9,000 Europeans, 2,500 of whom
from Spain.
The last independent Moroccan sultan, Hafez, was exiled to Tangier,
where he was put in custody in the kasbah, in 1912.
In 1923, Britain, France and Spain signed a treaty under which
Tangier was made an international city. In 1940 it was occupied once again by
the Spanish until 1946, and finally it became fully independent as part of
Morocco after its independence in 1956.
No doubt that this history with long periods of European,
particularly Spanish, presence, had its influence on the city and contributed
to the diversity of its spirit. One of the major influences is seen in the1913
Cervantes Theatre, which witnessed many international drama and music
performances for decades,but it is closed now. A project for the restoration of
the theatre was planned a few years ago but was not carried out due to lack of
funding, a million dirhams of which was contributed by the Spanish government.
With a seating capacity of 1,400, the theatre has highly distinctive Spanish
interior design features.
Featureless people
As I was walking with friend Alallam I examined people s features:
an extremely beautiful girl, like most girls in Tangier, an old man with a
wrinkled face wearing traditional clothes and blowing a pipe, young men in a
café, men in another noisy café. Tangier s people, like the city itself, have
no distinctive features. The poor people we saw in the old part of the city are
certainly different from the bourgeois classes in the affluent areas on the
hills or in the de luxe flats along the beautiful corniche, parts of which
remind you of Alexandria. Travellers writings are unreliable, as, despite their
long stay in Tangier, they mixed only with those living in the poor areas. As a
young girl told me, Tangier s population are less sociable than Moroccan
southerners. However, I do think that they, like all coastal area inhabitants,
are familiar with foreigners, open and multi-cultural. That s why, e.g.,
Spanish and French are very common there. On the other hand, because of
successive foreign rule, they do not trust foreigners much.
Something I didn t understand during my first visit to Tangier
about three years ago: I was tracking Shukri and, to my astonishment, nobody
knew him or even heard about him .As a Ritz Hotel/restaurant executive
explained to me, Shukri himself was upset because of the city inhabitants
insistence on ignoring him, particularly in view of the fact that many of the
city s foreign visitors and Arab and other intellectuals always ask about him.
Pointing to a place near the reception area, with a sad face mixed with a smile
as he remembered the man he described as the silent , the executive said, Here
Shukbri suddenly felt unwell, and he was rushed to hospital where he died.
In Battuta s mausoleum
On my way to the mausoleum of the famous traveller Ibn Battuta, who
lived and died in Tangier, in the old part of the city near the historical
kasbah, I saw many beautiful buildings. The road to the kasbah begins with a
stone archway surmounted by an old building with a huge wall on the left. After
the gate there is a wide cobbled court with rows of old European style
buildings. We descended many steps in search of Ibn Battuta s alley and with
difficulty found the mausoleum after passing through a maze of narrow alleys.
A small white building with a 3x4m court, the mausoleum is covered
in green with gold engravings and a plaque on the wall carrying a biography of
Ibn Battuta; Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Muhammad of Tangier, known as Ibn
Battua, born in Tangier on 24 February 1304.
In 1325, aged21, he decided to go on pilgrimage and learn more
about Sharia in the Muslim world. He travelled to the Maghrib. Egypt, Sudan,
Syria, Hijaz, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Turkestan and reached India
and then went to China and Indonesia and back to central Africa. He came into
contact with many kings and rulers and wrote poems and their gifts helped him
continue his journey.
Called back by Sultan Abu Anan, he returned to Morocco concluding
his 30-year journey. He dictated an account of this journey to Muhammad bin
Jazzi Alkabli which took the form of a famous book about his travels and was
later translated into a number of European languages. He died in 1355.
The buildings in the kasbah area still retain their old Andalusian
features with their huge gates, showing that that period of history had the
most impact not only on Tangier but also on Morocco as a whole. We stopped in
front of the old Moroccan kasbah bath , which has an old archway and
decorations on the front. We saw a small shop with a signboard displayed
outside carrying the name Alboughaz Music Club in which an old man was teaching
young men playing music on oriental and Western instruments.
Finally we reached the old port which now operates for carrying
passengers between Spain and Tangier. The large crowd, especially during the
holiday season, was behind planning a huge, ambitious project which will make a
quantum leap economically and socially: the Mediterranean port of Tangier,
which we decided to make a special visit to.
The new port
Our friend Alallam, in coordination with Minister Muhammad bin
Eissa, arranged a meeting with the port director, Mr Hassan Abqari. The port
occupies a vast area with containers anchored at its huge docks. Asking him why
the new port was planned, he said the old port, being in the city centre,
caused traffic and pollution problems, especially during the holiday season
(170,000 cargo ships annually).The port was opened in 2007 and now handles
about two million cargo ships and over a million passengers a year.
The port has a new feature, the so-called zero division position ,
which allows cargo ships to go directly to the designated dock, rather than
waiting for hours, thus saving cost, time and effort. Abqari said the number of
ships from Europe in 2017 is projected to be two million, and the port s
proximity to Europe is designed to cope with this huge volume of traffic.
·
Q.What palyed this
role before the new port?
A.Malta,, Algeciras (Spain), Barcelona, Valencia and other ports.
·
Q.How did you
compete with these large ports?
A.Through the port s standard specifications which allow the
simultaneous unloading of five ships. In addition, the port s depth is 12-15m
with a large storage and warehousing area. These facilities and resources cut
transit time, allowing a ship to make four instead of three rounds daily.
·
Q.What development
opportunities for the region does the port provide?
A.It will certainly create job opportunities and an economic and
social development centre in Tangier and north Morocco, in addition to other
related services, a motorway network from and to the port, and a railway line
is under way.
·
Q.What opportunities
does the port provide for Tangier s population in particular?
A.A 5,000 hectare plot of land is designated for related services,
including an industrial zone with employees accommodation. The French car
Renault opened a factory earlier this year with a capacity of 400,000 cars p.a.
The factory will provide 600,000 direct job opportunities and 30,000 ones in
related industries, such as transport, raw materials, spare parts, rubber, etc.
·
Q.How does he port
play a strategic role as a bridge between Europe and Morocco?
A.The distance between Tangier and Europe by way of other ports is
covered in 2.5h, but because the port is only 14 km from Spain it takes only 1.25h,
thus cutting fuel and cargo costs and saving time. The daily transport cost of
12 metres is now reduced from 400 to 220. Passengers travel costs have also
been reduced. We used to handle 25,000 containers a year, but now we handle
15,000 containers a day. The port boosts traffic between Africa and Europe
significantly.
·
Q.Does the port have
a negative impact on other ports?
A.I don t think so. The port with the most impact (not more than
10%) may be Algeciras, but the real competition is between Spanish ports
themselves. We can now attract supertankers, thus compete as European ports do.
In this way, the port should be viewed in a European context.
·
Q.Are Ceuta and
Mellila affected?
A.No. On the contrary, the port attracts foreigners to the area,
including Ceuta and Mellila.
·
Q.Does the port
employ foreigners or only Moroccano?
A.We employ some foreigners, mostly Egyptians. At first we relied
on experienced Egyptians from Port Said who accomplished their mission
successfully, and Moroccan workers took over and they do their job efficiently.
Europeans with technical expertise account for only 20% of the total labour
force.
On our way out of the port we looked at the dock with the tankers
unloaded and passengers disembarking. It was really impressed by this huge
project which will change the future of Tangier and the north in general;
particularly in view of King Muhammad VI s support for boosting development
there. I talked to Eng. Abdul-Latif Alsawy, ex-director of the Urban
Development Agency, responsible for the urban planning of Tangier and the area
around it. The Agency played a key role to keep up with the social and economic
changes which Tangier province has witnessed. I mean the major projects, such
as planning Tangier port and ancillary facilities, in addition to designating
2,000 hectares for industry,300 of which for the French car Renault factory, a
railway line plan and residential and recreational areas, he said.
Foreign investments have been made in housing, tourism and industry
by French, Spanish and Portuguese investors, in addition to highly successful
investments by Gulf countries, mainly Kuwait and UAE, he added.
·
Q.How did the Agency
deal with urban sprawl at the expense of historical and archaeological areas?
A.Old Tangier is about 30 hectares (25 km2) in area. The Agency
made plans to preserve cultural heritage and protect the fronts and original
designs of old buildings used by foreigners in Tangier and Asilah. True, only
60% of these plans have been implemented, but we are still pressing, as Tangier
has a long history of civilization and it is a multi-cultural city with
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese quarters which mix with Andalusian heritage.
·
Q.Does Tangier
suffer a housing crisis?
A.Unfortuantely, yes. The population of Tangier in 1930 was 40,000;
a million now. Though the city s area expanded thirtyfold, housing development
cannot cater for population growth, as after independence priority was given to
the industrial and political sectors, which led to the rise of urban slums. The
province is planning to get rid of this problem and clear the city from slums within
two years, and a new city Shoroft near the port will provide accommodation for
about 50,000 port workers in the coming few years.
·
Q.What about the
large number of closed flats in a densely-populated city?
A.Well, About 35% of Tangier s flats are closed because many
Moroccan expatriates abroad invest in real estate in the hope of making a
profit in addition to property speculators, which exacerbates the housing
problem which may be dealt with some day.
·
Tangier s
architectural style between heritage and modernity
When I returned to Tangier I noticed many modern buildings and
high-rise towers in many parts of the city, which made me think about its
history: Will the old ports disappear giving way to new residential areas, many
buildings in which are closed?
As our tour of
Tangier came to an end, its legendary spirit influenced me more. However, I
felt it still has many secrets which need months to uncover, particularly its
temptation. As a matter of fact, I was concerned that the city would have
changed a lot years after my first visit, but my concerns ceased as I
remembered those who visited it and were fascinated by it. Its old areas,
landmarks, kasbahs and grotto will remain part of its temptation and ability to
attract its lovers for ever.
Ibrahim
Farghaly
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