The Port of Tangier
Tangier is known as a city that bustles with vendors on each street corner. It's a place with markets, alleyways, narrow streets and a sensory overload of color, noise and aromas. And the Port of Tangier is no different. It swarms with passengers, guides, taxi drivers and ships that are desperately trying to offload their cargo in a port that barely has enough space to breathe in.
The port of Tangier is conveniently situated near the ville nouvelle and next to the medina, so visitors are within walking distance of the town center. As the port also functions as a ferry port, it is always teeming with tourists and visitors. Of course, with the known arrival of tourists by way of ferry, the Tangier port is always swarming with guides trying to sell their services to disembarking passengers and taxi drivers fighting to pick up a fare. Visitors are advised to politely decline any offers and to be aware that some of the taxi services as some do not make use of meters and, if a fare is not negotiated before departing from the port, it could be pricey.
Visitors to the Tangier port will have to be very patient, as getting through customs and passport control can take a while. The terminal for disembarking ferry passengers does have an exchange facility in the building and ATMs. Currency can also be exchanged on the ferries.
Since the year 2003, initiatives have been launched to give the port a face-lift and to divide the ferries and commercial traffic into two separate ports. The Port of Tangier will remain a port for ferries, while the new port, named the Tangier-Med Port, will be able to accommodate commercial ships and vessels and have the capacity to facilitate 3.5 million containers. The Tangier-Med Port will also have a small passenger port that should be completed and in operation by the year 2009.
As the market and the import and export industry have expanded, the need to streamline the flow of traffic has increased. To separate the larger and international vessels from the ferries should ensure that any arrival at the port will be more convenient and assist both industries to grow in Tangier.
