Tangier

Tangier – or Tingis, as it was known at the time – was founded by Phoenician colonists as a trading post. It then became a Cartheginian settlement, before being conquered by Rome and passing hands to different actors within the empire during Roman civil unrest. However, its largest cultural influence would come from the Amazigh peoples of the surrounding lands, and later the Arabs.

The land that’s now Tangier was first known to have been populated by ancient Amazigh, until it was acquired by the Phoenicians and turned into a colony by the 8th century BCE. One of the capitals of king Bocchus I of Mauretania, the city then fell to Rome in the 1st century BC and was made a colony and the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana under Claudius. The Western Roman Empire would, of course, disintegrate, but the Eastern Romans stood and took back the city, occupying it until the early Islamic conquests. This subjected the city to shifting codes of governance as different powers applied their laws to the area.

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The Lower Inner part of Tangier, circa 1910 Wenceslaus Hollar
Etching, only state
Metropolitan Museum of Art

This etching is part of a series of works by Wenceslaus Hollar assembled in a catalogue by Richard Pennington. In it can be seen the lower inner part of Tangier, with York Castle, an historic structure on the Place de la Kasbah, dominating the scene.

In 1912 Morocco was partitioned between France and Spain. In 1923 the Tangier International Zone was established through an international convention, the Tangier Protocol, which was signed by France, Spain, and Great Britain, with Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States all joining later. This zone delimited an area of 373 km2 (144 mi2). While the Sultan of Morocco had nominal sovereignty over the zone and jurisdiction over the native population, practical control over governance was exercised by the European powers.

As an international zone, Tangier quickly became a tax haven and free-trade zone. The city was governed by divided branches. The legislative assembly was the legislature, and composed of representatives of 4 French members, 4 Spanish members, 3 British members, 2 Italian members, 1 American member, 1 Belgian member, 1 Dutch member, and 1 Portuguese member. This assembly had the authority to take actions such as levying taxes.  Executive power within the zone was given to an administrator, and judicial power given to a court that consisted of 5 judges, with one each appointed by the Belgian, British, Spanish, French, and Italian governments.

Read the Convention regarding the Organization of the Statute of the Tangier Zone, signed at Paris December 18, 1923

The zone’s foundational statute required that there be an Arabic interpreter attached to the court, and that provisions be made so that interpreters of other languages could be hired if necessary. The zone also had its own police force under the authority of the administrator, with commissioned officers from the European powers and the non-commissioned officers and privates composed of Moroccans. Under international management, the city grew, attracting people from all over the world. Tangier became a magnet for Bohemians, artists, and others, from political radicals to the LGBTQ community, who lived there in relative tolerance. The city became as much a melting pot of religion as it did of lifestyles, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims co-existed together.

Gateway, Tangier, circa 1910
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Oil on plywood
Smithsonian American Art Museum

In this painting, Tanner captured the intensity of the Moroccan sun as well as Tangier’s distinctive architecture. It is unclear whether Tanner painted this image in his Paris studio or on-site, but it may have been a study for a larger work, Entrance to the Casbah, which has a similar composition and was completed a couple of years later.

In 1952, Morocco gained its independence and Tangier was gradually re-integrated into the state. Full authority over the city reverted to Morocco in 1956, but Tangierian autonomy didn’t end there. From 2007 to 2008, inspired by its history as an international zone and its prime location for trade, Tangier developed a 3.45 km² free zone containing four industrial parks, managed by the independent Tangier Free Zone entity.