It was nice to practice the little Spanish that remains in me in this medina. Filipinos certainly find this city of a particular interest as one of our colonial churches has a massive pediment relief beautifully portraying the Battle of Tetouan. Tetouan, however, easily pales in comparison to the royal capitals as no monument truly stands out there, but it delivers in showing how a smaller medina that has largely escaped developments looks like. It is noted for its supposed high authenticity (which means car parking even outside the walls can be a nightmare). It truly is hard to differentiate the medinas as they all look the same from the outside, so chances of seeing their unique propositions are better noticed and visualized in the interiors (it was still not easy to the untrained eye!). Hence, the earlier recommendation to stay in one of the traditional riads is one that I took without regret as it also allowed one to see the medina from the roof top across various times of the day.

My best memories were the early morning rounds when the medina was just waking up. In this regard, the Mellah and El Aioun were most interesting, and the Mellah was probably the Jewish quarter that I enjoyed the most in Morocco. While in there, the Ensanche should not be missed too. Any prospect of an Extension to include this grid-planned quarter would be a nod further to Tetouan's Hispanic connections.

It is easy to pit Tetouan and Chefchaoen against each other given their backgrounds, and the latter does charm one better. The former, nonetheless, is more historic. Being in Tetouan also means two other things: having ticked off a UNESCO Creative City (Crafts and Folk Arts) and the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean.