Assilah is in some respects unique in Moroccan seaports, there is no other like it. It has no commercial base other than fishing anymore. No container port , no oil terminal. In many respects it should have sunk quietly into obscurity. one of its sons attained a high ranking post in the government and consequently it seems Assilah reinvented itself.
In a way, on the Cornish model of beaches, tourism and art. Once known as Zilis, to the Phoenicians in the 2nd century B.C. I personally think the history of this town needs to be more widely known. For example the walls that you can see in the photos above and below were built by the Portugese in1471 and define the medina today, a hundred years later King Sebastian of Portugal who hoped to win Morocco for Christendom ( a little known crusade) landed at Assilah en route to the battle of the three kings (the other two being Moroccan). All three of the kings were slain at the battle and subsequently Portugal was bankrupted ransoming the nobility after the defeat at Kasar el Kebir, just SE of Larache. Possibly our next port of call.. Essentially that ended Portuguese involvement in Morocco, apart from the food that is...
The Spanish then moved in for a hundred years or more until 1691 after which the Moroccans established control and the area became famous for pirates, along with Sale further down the Moroccan coast. The 15th century walls still define the Medina and Spanish and Portuguese influence can be tasted in the cuisine and heard in the speech of the local people. For quite a while I felt a bit silly talking to people in a mixture of French and Spanish until I realised that, if I had the ability to add some Arabic I would have sounded like a local!
The forecast was predicting easterlies for Saturday which would have been perfect for us but as it turned out south westerlies, and very light winds at that were what actually turned up.
So after seeing the gendarmes who frankly were bemused by our insistence on telling them when we would leave., we made our way back into the Medina to seek out some art and a new pair of sandals for me.
This includes Instagram hints and tips for selfies...…Its about time I changed my "T" shirt......
But also includes some stunning street art, having seen graffiti from the roman era I am reminded of the famous saying "Plus ca change, plus c`est la meme chose". (The more it changes, the more its the same thing)
I think I can figure out the message, without being able to read Arabic, surely that's the power of art?
Of course some bits are just plain lovely…….I can understand why Mosque doors are always green now.....
After I had taken these photos we walked along the coast , beyond the walls to a beach the locals were enjoying. The surf was pounding in and we were sat in a small cafe balcony above the beach enjoying a mint tea. It was obvious that there was a subtle difference in the view in that females frolicking in the waves were dressed from head to toe , some in purpose made swimming clothing others in just what they were wearing. It seemed to make no difference at all to there enjoyment of the water but I was personally still a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. I understand from the Koran that modesty is the norm, for both men and women. It seems that once again men have gained the upper hand.
Now this is going to be an odd post , hopefully.
Lynne and I wandered down to the front, overlooking the harbour to a restaurant which I wont name , but its next to the cafe du port. Lynne decided that was a good place to dine as it seemed to be popular with locals. So popular in fact that we had only the choice of the last table under the air conditioning unit " le clime".which dripped water constantly. We were later moved to the first available table. Subsequently we enjoyed a lovely lunch of Tagine cooked meat and vegetables and were contemplating a coffee when all hell broke lose. I really have no idea of the cause but I suspect it was a dispute over a bill, but suddenly and without warning a customer and the staff were fighting, chairs were broken and glasses smashed, crashing out of the restaurant onto the street other people joined in. At this point Lynne and I parked ourselves around the children abandoned by the participants as glasses flew and smashed around us. One of the children was in a pram. As the fight progressed down the street. We handed the children back to the mother, presumably the wife of one of the combatants and a little bewildered wondered what to do. Being British leaving without paying the bill was not to be countenanced so we sat at a table across the road until the police arrived and everthing calmed down. A disturbing aspect of this violence was that everyone involved armed themselves with smashed bottles, chair legs, bits of metal, knives in the case of the kitchen staff. Really a serious altercation, blood was spilt and ambulances called along with the police.
I have no idea if this is the norm, or in fact what led to this outburst of extreme violence. Needless to say I did not take photos.
The meal by the way was excellent.
By the time we returned to Dark Tarn the forecast easterlies had finally arrived and we spent a happy hour rearranging and resetting our anchors. We are anchored fore and aft to prevent us swinging into the fishing fleet. Having taken a good ten minutes to free our kedge anchor from the black mud of the harbour bottom I can safely attest that the holding is "good".
Later we sat in the cockpit and after getting rid of the local kids who had swum out and were occupying our dinghy by the expedient of stowing it on deck, we contemplated the day.
Morocco is definitely different...……
I would also maintain that Assilah is the friendliest place we have been in Morocco. despite the above unfortunate incident.
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