Larache Old Town

Larache sits on a bluff where the Loukkos reaches the Atlantic, and its old town is small, whitewashed with blue trim, and shaped by a long Spanish presence - the town was held by Spain in the seventeenth century and again from 1911 to 1956, and the Plaza de España, a circular arcaded square, was cut into the edge of the medina during the second period, so the transition from Andalusian-style colonial architecture to medina lanes happens in a few metres. Below is the fishing port, with boats and a market, and the Kasbah de la Cigogne, a Spanish-built fort, stands above. Jean Genet, the French writer, spent his last years partly here and is buried in the old Spanish cemetery on the cliff above the sea, a grave that people still come to find. Larache is a working town with few visitors and no tourist apparatus to speak of.

The main sights

• Blue-and-white lanes - a small whitewashed medina on a bluff above the river.
• Plaza de España - a circular arcaded square cut into the medina's edge.
• A working fishing port - boats and a market below the town.
• Genet's grave - in the Spanish cemetery on the cliff, still visited.

When to go

Spring and autumn. Half a day, combined with Lixus.

Practical notes

There is no tourist infrastructure - few cafes aimed at visitors and almost no English. The medina is small and quickly walked. Parts of the town are run-down. The cemetery is a walk out along the cliff and is sometimes locked.

Nearby

Lixus is across the river; Asilah is north up the coast.