Morocco

Posted by Stephen - July 19, 2009
I had an opportunity to go to Morocco last week, my first time into Africa. While I was only there for a few days, I did manage to see some sights one afternoon while checking out a new Renault/Nissan industrial complex, and after work on Friday. We have a plant in Tangier, on the northern tip of the country. I left Paris on Wednesday afternoon, connecting in Casablanca. I arrived in Tangier about 8:30 pm and was met by the local HR Manager, Mohamed. Also meeting me was a US based, Mexican national who is in Morocco on a short assignment to help them in their expansion. I have known Guillermo for over 6 years, having hired him in Monterrey. Along with Arabic and French, Spanish is widely spoken in Morocco.

Mohamed, Stephen and Guillermo. (This photo is from the site of the new container terminal east of Tangier. We asked a guard take the shot before he shooed us away)

I flew Royal Air Maroc on this trip. While I do love trains, I must admit I am getting a little overexposed to tracked transportation these days. To get to the airport (Orly) I took the metro, the RER and then an 8 minute ride on a driver less train called the OrlyVal. I am also experiencing the letdown from the days in Asia of getting to enjoy all the perks of Star Alliance 100K club offered on most SE Asia airlines. These include things like getting to wait in business lounges, pre-boarding and economy plus seating when not in business class. United is not a player in Europe, and the Star Alliance members are poorly represented in the southern part of the continent. Also, as we are in the middle of the French holiday period, the waiting area was full of families heading home to Morocco for vacation. The pre-boarding for people "travelling with small children" covered about 1/2 the flight. I got on later with the rest of the self loading cargo as Nicholas likes to call us. The plane however was nice and new, and like in Asia, they did actually serve us a meal.

Morocco is booming. As mentioned above, Renault is building a new plant in Tangier that will directly employ 6,000 people and supposedly indirectly create jobs for another 30,000 with services and suppliers who are locating to the area. Everywhere you look there are cranes atop new apartments and hotels. The King of Morocco (King Mohammed IV) has targeted Tangier as the industrial center, Casablanca the commercial and banking center and Rabat the government center. Wages seem to be about the same as China, educational levels are reasonably high and language capability in French and Spanish. Dell has their Europe Shared Service in Morocco. In terms of size, the country is about the the same land mass a California, and has a population similar to Canada. (Actually, California and Canada have the same population, so I could have said it was the same size and population of California, but then all the Canadians would have had to look up the population of California... the things a blogger worries about)

From my balcony


It is well known in this area that about 80% of the hashish and marijuana entering Europe comes via Tangier, so smuggling is a big industry. As we came back from the trip to the Renault site we drove on a small road along the coast that had many small bays, large (fast I presume) boats and big houses overlooking the Strait.

We stopped in a small village cafe along the coast for one of the local habits: tea. (hot green tea, sugar and fresh mint in a tall glass. It is delicious and surprisingly refreshing and invigorating).

Then, on Friday, before dinner, Guillermo and I went for a walk into the center of Tangier. The picture below shows the gate into the Medina, the market area of town. It is an incredible place, reminding me of the market scenes from the first Indiana Jones movie. The Medina has narrow streets, crammed full of stalls, people, animals etc. There were many fruit and vegetable stalls, and a surprising number of them devoted entirely to dates: date jams, date cakes, candied dates, fresh dates etc. We had been warned that we may get approached by some locals who seem friendly and offer directions or show you where something is sold and accompany you during your walk in the market. As you get ready to depart the market, they strongly ask for money for the "guide" services they have provided. Sure enough, we got tagged by a most persistent older man who took nome of our polite hints or even our attempts to shake him. It got almost to a game of hide and seek as we ducked behind stalls and changed direction suddenly. We would think we had lost him when suddenly he would be at our side again pointing out the most obvious sights "This stall sells dates, this way is the beach" Finally, with our limited French and some of Guillermo's Spanish and numerous hand gestures, he got the hint and left us alone.

Because of its location, the weather was great. The Atlantic and Mediterranean breeze blows all day, and the evenings are very comfortable. We ate outside most nights overlooking the harbour. The city is built on the hills around the harbour and despite only being on the 3rd floor of a hotel and restaurants, the views were wonderful. I am told by Susie, that as prices in Spain rise, more and more Europeans are looking to Morocco to live and retire. If I get a chance, I will stay longer on my next trip and visit Casablanca.