According to legend told by Plutarch, Antaeus, son of Gaia and Poseidon, was the founder of the city of Tangiers, a giant who killed Hercules, whose grotto can be visited in this emblematic place that makes artists from different generations fall in love with it. From the Greco-Roman to the twenty-first century, the city and the Mediterranean coastal enclave is one of the chosen destinations to get lost for a few days. Tangier is a good starting point for discovering the charms of the African continent
Very well connected to the south But not only writers like Paul Bowles came to Tangier , with ferries leaving from different points of the Andalusian coast, Tangier is a good place for a getaway weekend. But when you catch the boat and once you have made the crossing in which, if you’re lucky, you’ll be accompanied by dolphins, do not expect to get to a city in the style of One Thousand and One Nights, with impressive temples. Rather Tangier is the gateway to Africa and its charms are in that special light and the passage of history full of big names who have fallen in love with a very special city.
Where were we? What can be done over a weekend in Tangier? You can start your visit in the renowned Square of April 9, where King Mohamed V delivered his historic speech in 1947, when the city was still part of the Spanish protectorate (It was not until 1960 that Tangier would officially part of Morocco). Another of the visits that you ask yourself is Arabic Sidi Hosni Palace, the walls of the Kasbah, the promenade, the Christian cathedral and the Grand Mosque.
But on a weekend off especially make sure you get lost in its maze of alleyways of the Medina, its cafes and markets, and behold the life around you. In addition, lovers of literature can approach the Hotel Continental, where in their time stayed Jacinto Benavente and Pío Baroja. It is also the scenery of part of the novel El tiempo entre costuras (The Time Between Seams), by María Dueñas.
But not only writers came to Tangier. Artists like Eugène Delacroix and Henri Matisse also came to this city to find the muses in the maze of streets. And so did music bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones, who were staying in one of the mythical hotels of the city, the Grand Hotel Villa de France by BlueBay***** and drank tea on the seaview terrace of the emblematic Hafa Café, a place open since 1921, the name of which Luis Eduardo Aute gave to one of his songs.
Another emblematic hotel in the city is is Le Royal El Minzah by BlueBay*****, open to the public in 1930 under the direction of an English aristocrat known who within a few years turned it into a landmark and a must-see. Important figures of classic Hollywood, such as Rita Hayworth and Rex Harrison, more contemporary film stars like Jean Claude Van Damme, or mythical figures like the legendary French explorer Jacques Cousteau, made this hotel their home during their visits to the Alawite kingdom.
Tangier amazes with its history, its hidden charms, its cuisine and its crossroads… An unforgettable experience marking your next trip by exoticism and charm of the land that, although close, seems to be millions of light years away.
