Tangier is booming

A very young population, and a strong one for that matter, very eager to join the 'glamour and shine' they suspect at the other side of the Gibraltar Strait...

Added to the fact that cities such as Meknes and Fes have safeguarded their traditional crafts and craftmenship...Give it 10 years. Then Morocco will be everywhere, from the catwalks of fashion to the hitparades world wide.

The "Terrace of the Lazy"

Ask the taxi driver for "Le Boulevard" in the New Town... or the "terrace of the lazy", a nickname that speaks for itself - it's here that people lazy about.

Don't miss the Perfumerie Baldini here, nor the colonial style tea room "La Giralda". And just around the corner you find Cafe de Paris (remember Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum?).

This is the ideal starting or meeting point for any visit to Tangier.

10 Million Tourists?

There we go again. "10 Million tourists expected by 2010".

The prediction rapidly spread... causing thousands to invest in construction, opening new Riads and guesthouses... and there is the world wide financial crisis and everything stands empty.

The 1970's, anyone?

But you know the saying: After every crisis with a big C comes a boom with a big B.

OK, admittedly, that is not really a saying.


A city unlike any other

That line you probably heard before? No, do not worry, we will not start about "a city of contrasts" or, worse, "come as a visitor, leave as a friend".

After all, this is Tangier we are talking about; in an increasingly uniform world truly a city unlike any other and truly a city of contrasts, so that deserves a better introduction.

Few will be the cities in this world where such diverse cultures and continents shake hands.

Partly African, partly Arabian, partly European, touched by France as well as Spain, Tangier has that extra 'zing' for everyone, regardless from which direction you arrive.

Morocco is heavily investing in Tangier. The city changes so quickly that you will hardly recognise it if your last visit dates from 2 or more years ago.

Only 3 years ago, many ferries arriving from Spain could be half empty. Nowadays they are usually filled, with tourists, city trippers, backpackers, businessmen, or people from Spain just popping over for a few hours of shopping.

But Tangier is still not anywhere near the mass tourism of for example Marrakech; the city still has got that extra edge.

Perhaps you noticed... we just love Tangier.

Bye bye to the Expo

And the Expo 2012 goes to... Yeosu in South Korea, not to Tangier.

Even if such a nomination is always a bit of a lotery, the news still came as a bit of a shock, that evening in November 2007.

It was a nice dream. Never before would the Expo have been held on such an extraordinary location, right at the beach with views of another continent.

It would have been the first Expo in an Arab, Muslim or even African country, and Tangier was fully prepared - but ended second.

So, what now, Tangier?

Let's shrug. The whole city underwent major renovations, a whole new city is born, and Tangier will do what it has always done throughout its never ending history of ups and downs: Survive.

And doing that gracefully.

Your first time to Tangier?

And perhaps you have questions?

Just ask. At info@tangierdreamer.com