The result is what you see: crusty old Tangiers is getting a lick of paint, in the form of yacht marinas, luxury hotels and golf courses. The droppings of a planned ten million tourists a year will drive the economic engine of the north. They have even - get this - called in the Spanish to advise them on "developing" the Moroccan coastline. This, if you've ever seen the monstrous despoliation of a beautiful coastline that is the Costa del Sol, would make your heart bleed.
With Larbi, in his old Mercedes taxi, we headed east along the coast to see what was going to be developed. We stayed on the inland road as far as Tetouan, with its spectacular setting at the foot of the great western bastions of the Rif Mountains, then we took the road that curls along the cliffs of the Mediterranean shore.
I was born too late for the privilege of seeing an unspoilt Mediterranean coastline, so this was something of a revelation... and let me tell you: it was glorious. Doctor Johnson reckoned that the ultimate purpose of all travel is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. He didn't mean Marbella, Benidorm or Monaco; he meant this: clear turquoise sea lapping ranks of steep blue headlands; warm sunshine drawing the scent from the pines, and the thyme, rosemary and other aromatic plants of the Mediterranean maquis; eagles soaring lazily across the cliffs, and here and there a village with a café, and a beach with some wooden fishing boats at rest.
