Travel Guide Larache

Located 80 km south of Tangier, this charming city with its blue and white houses remains deeply marked by the Spanish occupation which ensured it a certain prosperity. The large promenades overlooking the seafront and certain buildings bear witness to the Andalusian influence. Today, apart from the Liberation Square, this city of 125,000 inhabitants is far from its past splendour. Spain has launched a programme to help renovate the city, which should gradually restore it to its former glory. The architecture differs from one neighbourhood to another. The layout of the old city is Arab, while the houses in the modern city have adopted the Andalusian style. The medina is very beautiful with its steep streets leading down to the sea. Two fortresses dominated the north and south: the old Kebibat fort, now a hospital, and the Stork fort, facing the sea. The old Spanish prison is now the city's archaeological museum. The Larache Museum is housed in the 13th-century palace of Sultan Youssef Abdelhak el-Mrini. It presents collections of ancient coins, fishing equipment, musical instruments, jewelry, statues and objects from Lixus ... It is in Larache, where he lived for a long time, that Jean Genet rests. His grave is in the Spanish cemetery. In a very quiet place, facing the sea, the tomb overhangs the cliff, from where the view is splendid.