Cap Malabata Lighthouse

Cap Malabata closes Tangier bay on its eastern side, and the drive out along the coast road gives the view back across the water to the city stacked on its hill, which is the standard photograph of Tangier and is better from here than from anywhere in it. On the point stands a working lighthouse, a square tower marking the eastern approach to the strait, and beside it, on the headland, a crenellated stone building often called a castle - it is a nineteenth-century folly, built as a private residence in a mock-medieval style rather than a fortification, and it is a ruin, roofless and unfenced. The coast continues east towards Ksar es-Seghir with beaches and rocky stretches. The bay side has been substantially developed with resorts and the Tanger Med port area is further east; the point itself remains open ground.

What you actually see

• The Tangier view - the city stacked on its hill across the bay, best from here.
• A working lighthouse - a square tower marking the eastern approach to the strait.
• A castle folly - a nineteenth-century mock-medieval house, now a roofless ruin.
• The strait's mouth - shipping traffic passing between two continents.

When to go

Spring and autumn; late afternoon for the light on Tangier. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The lighthouse cannot be entered. The folly is an unfenced ruin and unsafe in places. The bay side is heavily developed with resorts. There are few facilities at the point itself.

Nearby

Ksar es-Seghir is east along the coast; Tangier is across the bay.