Cape Malabata – Morocco | Where Two Continents Face Each Other

Cape Malabata for many people is just a simple, remote geographic point of Morocco, a North African promontory formed by scenic high cliffs overlooking the Atlantic but it is also where two continents face each other, Africa and Europe.

Situated along a beautiful coastline of the Maghreb just 9,0 kilometres away from the captivating? city of Tangier, this cape is a very suggestive place highly recommended to visit not just for the striking panoramic sea views towards the Andalusian coast it offers but also for the rich historic events which had as superb protagonist that Moroccan headland.

Cape Malabata is historically very famed for narrations and mythological episodes which are always something of very suggestive and mystical for the visitors.

Those shaped cliffs visible sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar at first sight appear as something of magic part of an exotic site rich of mysterious hidden secrets evoking a past related to some of the most captivating local Berber legends.?

There is one especially related to that telling that Cape Malabata was the site on which the mythological Heracles son of the God Zeus stopped for a period to look at that idyllic coastline and the mesmerising horizon before to continue his mission exploring new lands.

According to narrations linked to the most suggestive mythology?that epic character during his long trip across the Maghreb killed there in a legendary duel the giant of the Atlas Antaeus son of Poseidon and Gaia, husband of Tinga who later became Heracles wife and they lived together in Tingis the current Tangier.

In recent times Cap Malabata became a sort of panoramic obliged stage for tourism because not far from the promontory there are from two splendid beaches such as Plage Sidi Kankouche and the splendid Plage Blanche or Des Amiraux also named in Spanish language Playa Blanca, the white beach for the light tonality of its sand, two options you can plan to visit in a full day.

The first is along a splendid sinuous eastern coastline leading to Ceuta, that Spanish autonomous city sharing a western frontier with the Moroccan Kingdom or in opposite direction towards west reaching Cape Spartel crossing a marvellous arched gulf and a sequence of striking cliffs. ??

The second is in direction south once reached the outskirts of Tangier entering in the scenic? interior and via Ain Lahcen you will reach the southern boundaries of the stupendous city of Tetouan next to the archeological site of Tamuda, a former emblematic centre founded in the 3rd century BC by the Mauretanian Berbers boasting also considerable Phoenician and Roman artifacts.

From the cape you can also reach in some minutes Sidi Mnari which was with its small forest the last green oasis for the old Berber merchants coming from south on the road to the coastal trail leading to the centre of Ksar Sghir well known in the past as Ksar Mesmouda.

Today Ksar?Sghir is a lovely small centre of approximately 10,000 inhabitants with a beautiful bay and a pleasant maritime promenade.

In that place you can see three Bab, old gates which were elevated to permit the trade operations entering in the local Medina in a place which was since the Middle Ages a very important market place.

Continuing along that splendid there are many other picturesque places highlighted by high vertical rocky walls and a couple of sharp tiny promontories extremely scenic.?

Another relevant image you will notice is the high Lighthouse dominating the entire local environment and it is in its kind a significant symbol of that geographic Moroccan point.?

In the cape you can see a fortress erected in the 20th century to guard the coast and a small market with interesting handcrafts, products sold by vendors mainly coming from Asilah and Larache with the chance to buy some objects of excellent quality and also pretty cheap.

?Some of those sellers are direct descendants of the ancient Iznaten, Aznag and Masmuda, the first Berber tribes natives of that Maghreb area who continued generation by generation that activity started by their ancestors centuries ago.

If you want to see something really impressive at approximately 3,0 kilometres from the cape you can visit the luxury Royal Resort Cap Malabata developed in a wide area of approximately 129 acres designed as residential, business, shop and tourist centre.

That stunning place was an investment of over 500 millions of dollars in Moroccan land by the State of Bahrain and the complex is like a splendid oasis highlighted by the presence of charming buildings established in Moorish-Andalusian style.? ?

Some of them are decorated with splendid Zellij details, Mudejar coloured tiles in the patios and furthermore providing a splendid Mediterranean vegetation in gardened spaces packed by several palm trees which also cover the public areas of that complex.

?In the past that site was mainly frequented by fishermen who used it as shelter placing their boats and nets while today it is visited by several tourists and in its proximity were built some villas, chalets and apartments.?

That route is splendid and scenic and looking down from that coastal road you can admire spectacular rocky formations, several small coves and?natural tiny?beaches beneath imposing cliffs.

The local soil?changes colour in late spring and summer seasons burned by the hot sun transforming its natural tonality from brown to a light yellow or ochre in some points due to high temperatures?which often reaches over 40o degrees.

Continuing along that magnificent stretch there are many other picturesque places highlighted by high vertical rocky walls and a couple of sharp tiny promontories extremely scenic.?

That cape thanks to its position was chosen for an important project consisting in a point of departure from Moroccan territory for the construction of a tunnel which will link Africa to Europe connecting Morocco to Spain.

The connection will be concretely from Cape Malabata to Punta Paloma exactly ending in that Spanish locality situated close to the small bay of Valdevaqueras next to Tarifa and not far from the famous archaeological area of Baelo Claudia corresponding to the beautiful beach of Bolonia, one of the most charming? places situated along the wonderful the Costa de La Luz.

Cape Malabata according to historic information was also a favourite haven of Francis Bacon, that famous Irish-English Figurative painter who loved Tangier but he also found in that special corner outside the city a deep source of inspiration.? It said that the artist spent many hours walking around that tip and when he returned to Tangier he started to work with enthusiasm and passion.?

Also another famed character the American writer Paul Bowles who lived and died in Tangier often loved to reach Cape Malabata spending full days up and down along that promontory to admire from that headland something which was for him more than pleasant.

A walk above those high cliffs is very suggestive, simply the view of all that you will admire around that site deserves a visit keeping a more than fascinating picture of that place in one of your best albums of memories.

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