Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From Tan Tan
gare routière,
grands taxis head to Agadir (Dh100), Goulimime (Dh50),
Inezgane (Dh100), Laâyoune (Dh150), Tan Tan Plage (Dh11), Tarfaya (D150) and Tiznit
(Dh70).
Grands taxis to Tan Tan Plage also leave from the top of Blvd el-Amir Moulay Abdal-
lah, a few hundred metres south of Ave Hassan II.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Tarfaya
POP 6000
The small fishing port of Tarfaya was the centre of the Spanish Protectorate of Cap Juby,
now known as the Tarfaya Strip. A Scottish trader, Donald Mackenzie, created the origin-
al settlement in the late 19th century, building a small trading post on a rock just offshore,
which he called Port Victoria. When the Spanish took over, they appropriated the build-
ing, now known as Casa Mar (
Click here
)
. The area gained independence from Spain in
1958.
The Moroccan government upgraded Tarfaya's municipal status to provincial centre in
2009, and the town is on the cusp of big developments. A wind farm is being constructed
25km away and a new port is planned, with hopes for the relaunch of the ferry connection
to the Canary Islands and greater tourist numbers. New beachfront promenades and res-
taurants are also on the drawing board. For now, however, Tarfaya's charm remains; it's a
friendly outpost with a seductively remote feel to the sand blowing between its crumbling
colonial relics.
The town will forever be associated with the French pilot and writer Antoine de Saint-
Exupéry. In 1926 he began flying in the airmail service between France and Senegal, and
Cap Juby was one of the stops. In 1927 he was appointed station manager for Cap Juby
and he spent a couple of years here, writing his first novel
Courrier Sud
(Southern Mail),
in which an airmail pilot dies south of Boujdour in the desert of Rio de Oro. He also
picked up inspiration for his most famous story,
Le Petit Prince
(The Little Prince), which
features a pilot lost in the desert.
Sights & Activities
There are some good fishing, surfing and kitesurfing spots around Tarfaya. Ask your ac-
commodation or Les Amis de Tarfaya about organising an expedition.
