8 essentials: what to see and do in Tetouan (Morocco) in 1 day

With a sightseeing trip in northern Morocco A very popular destination is the big city of Tangier, which during the last century has forged an image of international city.

Or they also visit charming corners like the ones you find in the delicious Chefchaouen medina, the focus of attention of numerous European and North American tourists who travel to this area of ​​the North African country.

Or enclaves as beautiful as the fortified coastal town of Asilah.

But if you are going to Tetuan, very close to these places, and just 41 kilometers south of Ceuta, you will be surprised because it will not seem like a tourist destination at all.

That happened to me in my first trip to Tetouan, a city that in recent times I have had the opportunity to visit quite frequently.

My only previous experience of a trip to morocco was the Marrakech visit, a city that I loved, but that has an undoubted tourist character.

Therefore, it was really surprising to arrive in Tetouan, a city with a long history linked to Spain, and so close to our country, and there are practically no Westerners on its streets.

Now that after several visits I know this city better, located in the foothills of the Moroccan RifI'm going to give you some tips for visiting Tetouan, as well as enough arguments so that in the end you consider that it is worth your visit.

Why Tetouan is a World Heritage Site

At the outset I will tell you that Tetuan It is a declared city Heritage thanks to its medina.

Indeed, the Unesco highlighted in 1997 the great importance that, starting in the XNUMXth century, the ancient titawinnow Tetuan, as a means of contact between the North African region of present-day Morocco and Andalusia.

Subsequently, Tetuan It was a city developed by Muslims who were expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century, so its architecture has had a great influence andalusian.

Currently, the Tetouan medina It is considered the most complete in Morocco, and the one that has been safest from external influences.

Visit the medina of Tetouan is enough argument to put in your route through northern Morocco this city that is known as the White dove.

How to get to Tetouan from Spain

Located about 60 kilometers east of Tangier, you can arrive in a Cheap flight al Tetouan airport, or Tangier, which is just an hour from Madrid.

You also have easy access to Tetouan after cross the Strait from Algeciras to Ceuta, or to the aforementioned city of Tangier.

From Tetouan you will be in just over an hour in the charming Chefchaouen, with its streets where the color blue takes on the greatest prominence.

La visit of Tetouan can do it perfectly in one day, since the historic center is not large and you can explore it perfectly on foot.

The best things to see and do in Tetouan in one day

There are two clearly delimited axes for your visit.

By supuesto the historic medina, but also the so-called Ensanche Spanish, area adjacent to the medina.

This spanish neighborhood It is now the nerve and commercial center of the city, and is the urban planning result of the Spanish presence during the first half of the 20th century.

Spanish Quarter of Tetouan

Indeed, Tetuan It was the capital of the so-called Spanish Protectorate in North Africa, which extended from 1913 to 1956, when the agreement of Moroccan independence.

These decades of Spanish presence mean that in Tetuan You meet older people who speak perfect Spanish, and who refer to that period as a time of boom, both economically and artistically.

Teutan and The Time Between Seams

A good reflection of that time and its connection with Spain can be found in the television series The time between seams, based on the novel by Maria Dueñas, which shows a splendid Tetuan.

Now in your walk through the Spanish Quarter of Tetuán you will see houses with an interesting colonial architecture, whose facades present a bright white with touches of green, all different.

Even in one of the main squares of the city, that of Moulay El Mehdi, can you see her Catholic Church of Our Lady of Victory, built in 1919, an exception as a religious temple in a city that already has 27 mosques in its medina alone.

History of the Medina of Tetouan

But it is in the Medina where the origin of the city of Tetouan, since it was in the 15th century when this labyrinth was built fortified enclosure with the aim of controlling the rebellious tribes of the Rif.

At the end of that century Tetuan received the immigration of the so-called andalusia, Muslims and Jews who left southern Spain to flee the Inquisition, after the end of the Reconquest.

With a fortified perimeter of five kilometers, in the Tetouan medina They were opened seven doors, which are preserved today, the oldest being known as Bab Mkabar, facing north.

These doors were historically closed at night for security reasons, a custom that continued during the time of the Spanish Protectorate from northern Morocco, between 1913 and 1956.

After the declaration of the Moroccan independence, a part of the wall was demolished to "open" the medina towards the so-called Expansion, the old Spanish colonial neighborhood.

What to see when visiting the Medina of Tetouan

Although after the departure of the Spanish, to a large extent the Medina of Tetouan opened towards the Spanish neighborhood When some sections of the wall are eliminated, the ideal is that you access through one of the hatchback that remain in the aforementioned wall.

While the Medina of Tetouan It is not as big and as labyrinthine as that of Fez, and you can visit it without the company of a guide, my advice is that to extract the true juice from it, do the visit with their help.

And after the experience, if you really want to get to know it and discover its most hidden corners, I consider that it is essential to do it this way, but that is, making sure that it really is a authorized tour guide, and not someone who offers to accompany you.

To contact an official guide (anyone offered on the street will not work), you must go to the tourist office, which you find next to the Consulate of Spain.

As we enter the medina, our guide reminds us that it is Heritage and, as he tells us, it is somewhat smaller than the famous Medina of Fez, but consider that the Tetuan is more pretty.

Because? For its configuration of alleys and passages, and for its better conservation and cleanliness.

I still don't know the Fez, so I have no opinion on the matter, but the truth is that the Tetouan medina It is a large labyrinth in which covered passages abound and where the different trade neighborhoods.

The great attraction and difference of the Medina of Tetouan with, for example, the Marrakesh medina or, in another dimension, that of Chefchaouen, is that there you will find the true atmosphere of a Moroccan city.

It is a non-touristy medina, a place where a good part of the population of Tetouan resides, who do their shopping in the souks that spread throughout it.

Tu walk through the Medina of Tetouan It is going to be a return to past centuries, where you will be surprised by the various and curious trades that are carried out there, where there is no shortage of tanners' area, and even a donkey parking.

Kasbah of the Medina of Tetouan

A recommended way to start your tour is go up the old way kasba, a military fortification that was used by the Spanish in the last era of the spanish protectorate.

Currently, the kasba It is closed to the public, as its great deterioration led to some walls falling not long ago during a visit by tourists, causing the death of a Muslim guide.

After climbing steep stairs that get lost in narrow alleys, you will reach the height of the kasba, from where you will have good panoramic views of the city of Tetouan and its medina.

In this upper area of ​​Tetouan, Together with the medina wall you find the great expanse of muslim cemetery of the city, an area where the Jewish cementary.

Oldest door in the Medina of Tetouan

From this area you will once again access the interior of the medina through the Bab Mkabar gate, the oldest of the Medina of Tetouan.

During your walk through the Medina of Tetouan, in various corners you will find ceramic plaques with tourist information in Arabic, Spanish and English, pointing out prominent places such as mosques, hamanes o zauias (Islamic schools).

This is because in the rehabilitation of the medina the Junta de Andalucía.

You will also see numerous points of the water channel network whose origins date back to the 15th century, and which is one of the peculiarities of the Tetouan medina.

This underground channeling network provided drinking water to houses, buildings, public fountains, mosques or hamams, and a good part of them are still in use.

Tanners' neighborhood in Medina of Tetouan

Of course in your visit of the medina you will be able to know the tanners' quarter, with the curious area where the skins are worked, which will later make it possible to manufacture numerous products.

Except on Fridays, a Muslim holiday, in your walk through the Medina You will find a great atmosphere in the numerous souks selling different types of products, which will contrast with the numerous solitary corners and alleys that make up the great labyrinth of the medina.

Of course, if you go to visit it on a Friday, a day of prayer in Muslim countries, you will find numerous establishments closed, specifically, in the goldsmiths' quarter, where gold and silver products stores follow one another.

Jewish Quarter in the Medina of Tetouan

You will also see some alleys with Jewish names that correspond to the ancient Jewish Quarter of the Medina, now barely inhabited by six families of that religion.

And, of course, in your visit of the medina There may be no shortage of establishments where they will try to sell you rugs, a real ritual.

In short, Medina of Tetouan It maintains all its exoticism and on your walk, if it is not in the summer months, you will almost certainly not find any Western tourists.

Where to sleep in Tetouan

Regarding the accommodations in TetouanIf you are looking for a simple three-star hotel, at a very reasonable price, and with clean and modern facilities, I recommend the hotel Athens, in the very center of the Ensanche Spanish.

And if you are looking for the charm of a riad in the medina, in one entrance you have two establishments run by Spanish citizens, the redoubt y White Riad, which are a reference in the city.

Where to eat in Tetouan: recommended restaurants

And as for where to eat in Tetouan, a key aspect is if you are looking for a place where you can drink beer or wine.

You will find them in the House of Spain or in the aforementioned Riad El Reducto, where you can enjoy both Mediterranean food and Moroccan specialties at a reasonable price, although higher than the most popular local food houses.

Another place where you can eat with beer in Tetouan is at Restinga restaurant, very close to the aforementioned Consulate of Spain, where the waiters will also speak to you in Spanish.

Without being able to consume alcohol, if you feel like choosing from a wide range of fish dishes, I recommend the Fish Corner.

And if you are looking for an establishment Moroccan popular food, of those recommended by the local population, you should go to Omar, next to the enclosure known as Spanish Pavilions, always full, with its chawarnas and food takeaway with very popular prices.

Best Photos of Tetouan

Here you have more photos of Tetouan, north of Morocco, both of its medina as the Ensanche Spanish.