Tangier Total Eclipse

Cap Spartel and the shadow off the Atlantic

The single most interesting piece of ground near Tangier for this eclipse is Cap Spartel, about 9 km west of the city at the north-western tip of Africa, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. A lighthouse has stood on the headland since the 1860s; the cliffs drop away to open ocean; and the view to the west is completely unobstructed for as far as the eye can carry.

That matters because of where the shadow comes from. The umbra travels west to east, having crossed a long stretch of open Atlantic before it reaches land. At Tangier the Sun is in the east, at azimuth 95°, so in the last minute before totality you can turn your back on it, look out over the ocean, and watch a wall of darkness come at you across the water at well over two thousand kilometres an hour. Then it hits, and everything goes out.

Nearby, the Caves of Hercules open onto the Atlantic through a gap in the rock shaped — unmistakably, from inside — like a map of Africa. The Roman town of Cotta, with its garum factory, sits close by. The whole headland is a short drive from the city and will be no secret on the day, so arrive early.

The other side: Cap Malabata

East of the city, Cap Malabata looks back across the bay at Tangier and out along the Strait towards Spain. This is the direction the Sun will actually be in, and it is the better choice if your priority is a clean, low, uncluttered eastern horizon and a photograph with the town in it.

The city itself, and where to be in it

Tangier has been a port for three thousand years and a byword for the meeting of continents for most of them — Phoenician, Roman, Portuguese, Spanish, and for four decades in the twentieth century an International Zone administered by a committee of foreign powers, which is where a good deal of its reputation comes from. In the last decade it has been rebuilt on a considerable scale, with a new port, a new marina and the northern terminus of Morocco’s high-speed railway.

• The Kasbah. The highest corner of the old city, with the Dar el Makhzen palace and terraces that look straight out over the Strait to Spain. The best combination of view and atmosphere in the city, and an open eastern aspect from several points along the walls.
• Café Hafa. Terraces cut into the cliff above the sea, open since 1921, where the view is the entire point. It faces roughly north across the Strait rather than east, so check your sightline.
• The Medina and the Grand Socco. Compact, walkable, and where you should be in the hour before the partial phases start at 08:40, mostly because the light on white walls during a deep partial is worth seeing.
• The Corniche and the bay. A long east-facing crescent of beach — and an east-facing beach is exactly what a 38° Sun at azimuth 95° calls for. This is the simplest good answer in the city.

Ibn Battuta’s road

He is buried, by tradition, in the medina he left in 1325. It is worth taking a moment during the partial phases to consider that the shadow now over your head will be over Tunisia in twenty minutes, Libya in an hour and forty, Upper Egypt shortly after that, and the Hejaz — where he was heading — by half past one in the afternoon, Arabian time. He took the better part of a year and a half over the same journey.

Getting there

• By air. Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport handles international and domestic traffic, and Morocco is well connected to Europe. Casablanca is the main long-haul hub.
• By rail. Al Boraq, Africa’s first high-speed line, links Tangier with Rabat and Casablanca in a little over two hours — a genuinely comfortable way to arrive from the south of the country.
• By sea. Ferries cross the Strait from Tarifa to Tangier Ville and from Algeciras to Tangier Med. The Tarifa route is the fast one and lands you in the city itself. Crossing on the morning of 2 August is not advisable — totality is at 09:44 and a delayed sailing costs you the eclipse. Cross on 1 August.
• By road. Modern motorways link Tangier with Tetouan, Rabat and Fez. Distances in northern Morocco are short by North African standards, which makes cloud-dodging on the morning genuinely practical.

Tangier in context

Tangier gives you 4m 51s at 38°. Keep travelling east along the shadow’s track and the numbers climb steadily: Sfax 5m 40s at 56°, Benghazi 6m 09s at 68°, Luxor 6m 20s at 82°, with the greatest duration of all — 6m 23s — falling near Sohag in Middle Egypt. Morocco is the most accessible total eclipse in Africa for most European travellers; Egypt is the best one on the planet. Our guide to the whole path lays out the comparison.