Moroccan Taxi Ride to Tétouan

Eric and I took our Iberian trip to Africa for a day and stopped in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco. Ceuta is one of two cities, the other being Melilla, that Spain still controls inside Morocco. After you cross the border into Morocco, there are many guides willing to take you to Tétouan, a historic city in Morocco. Now, I must warn you most of these guys are not official, and the Moroccan government has been cracking down on them. However, they offer you insights and a more personal tour than what you're able to get exploring on your own. Agree on prices in advance, and have small banknotes available for tips or payments. The guides and taxi drivers will typically ask for more at the end of the tour than the agreed upon price. This is when the small change comes in handy.

This video shows us in the taxi along one of the many newly constructed autoroutes available in Morocco, on a stretch between Ceuta and Tétouan. The autoroutes are only a few months old in some cases and have state-of-the-art construction and toll plazas. Contrast this with the country side, and it's hard to believe you're cruising along at 130 km/hr when a few years ago there was only a two lane road along this same route that carried the donkey drawn carts that we saw. The end of the video has us going into the newer part of Tétouan then transitioning to the older part of town.

Important travel tip:

When you are arriving to Morocco from Spain, walk down the corridor on the left. If you go to the right, you will end up in a bazaar type of place and never actually leave Spain. Once you cross into Morocco, go to one of the booths to your right. You will need an entry and exit card. You will out the entry card and get an endorsement stamp in your passport. You retain the exit card for when you leave. Do not lose this!

When walking back across the border. There's a fenced in line to your right, looking at the Spanish border. You will get opportunistic people telling you you're in the wrong line and they can help you get through faster. Just ignore them. If they're not in uniform or otherwise don't look official, they're not the border guards and have no authority. Just politely decline their offers to help you. There is a single stand open for people exiting on foot, and it's hidden around the corner at the end of the line. A final border guard will be next to it. Hand your passport and the exit card to the guard in the booth, and he'll give you the exit stamp. Show your passport to the border guard, and he'll let you pass. At that point proceed walking to the Spanish customs house and you're back in Spain.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Tetouan
• taxi
• Morocco
• Ceuta
• border

[haku8645]

My *teenage* sister and I attempted this border crossing on foot a few weeks ago. The advice you give over in the comments is sound. I've never been so defensive in my whole life! Another quick tip: do NOT let your passport out of your sight, even when the doctor takes it into his little room. Ask to follow. If they say no, it's okay, follow anyway! Luckily nothing bad happened but talk about sketchy!

[briancwatson]

Who is the doctor? We just handed our passports to one of the border guards and found a guide. Our passports were never out of our sight entering or leaving the country. My friend and I are in our mid-20's and have traveled extensively, but this is the most chaotic border crossing we have ever seen.

My advice would be to take the ferry to Tangier since you clear customs on the ferry. I get the impression Tangier receives a lot more tourist traffic and is more orderly than the Ceuta border.

[briancwatson]

No, he was just driving slowly for some reason. I did remember seeing a sticker on the back of the vehicle saying the limit was 80 km/hr, but the driver didn't seem to respect it.

[1988tvova]

Former spanish lands...

[haku8645]

For us, we had to take our entry paper to a doctor wearing a coat who took out temperature with one of those little gun things, and then took our forms and our passports into a little room to stamp so that we could take those to the police and get our entry stamps. Perhaps the presence of doctors is a more recent thing due to swine flu?

[bonniewatt]

I miss Tetouan.

And yes, it does seem to go rather slowly on the highway... did you ask him to drive carefully?

[legendt19]

this taxi of tetouan is going to slow

on the motorway! 20 mph wtf