Tangier, an international and Moroccan city with Spanish influences

Tangier is a very special city in Morocco. One of the very first to open up to foreigners, at a visual distance from Europe, it was for many years “international”, with several large European countries each managing a part of the city, with their own administration and post office.

Tangier, an economy open to the international that makes its wealth

From Tangier you can see Europe in good weather. Like all cities that are home to a large foreign-oriented port (Hanover, NewYork, Antwerp) Tangier is not exactly in Morocco.

The city has preserved from its “international” past beautiful monuments, richly decorated houses and pleasant to live in. Today, it is developing very strongly, thanks to the port and the free zone of Tangier Med. It is the nerve centre of commercial exchanges with Europe and the rest of the Mediterranean. It is also a base of entry into Africa for China, which sees it as an essential relay for its new silk road.

With Africa’s leading port in container traffic (source Lloyds), factories, including Renault, Tangier has a strong economy and also attracts many service companies.

Tangier attracts many foreigners, Westerners but also Algerians. A first wave of immigration took place when France was colonising Algeria, while Morocco remained independent. Then, at a later stage, Algerian-Moroccans or Moroccans expelled from Algeria also settled in Tangiers. China is also very present there.

Choosing the place

Making the choice to live in Tangier

It is the choice of a residence very close to Europe, where it is almost easier to go shopping in Spain than in Casablanca. Tangier is therefore a bubble of its own, escaping the centralisation of the economic capital. It also means choosing to live in a culture marked as much by Spain, the United States, England, as by France.

This is a choice that has been made by many artists, and Tangier has a particularly rich cultural life. Tangier’s only shortcoming? Its weather, rather cold and rainy in winter. But I’m probably biased….