11 Jan 2017

Tangier - Morocco


For celebrating the last days of 2016 and the new years eve, my last trip took me to Tangier, a two-time Bond location. In The Living Daylights, Bond travels to Tangier in pursuit of General Koskov who is hiding in the villa belonging to his accomplice, Brad Whitaker. An establishing panoramic shot over the city is seen right before Pushkin arrives at Whitaker's villa in the film. The first establishing shot is filmed from the rooftops of a house by the old Kasbah, and pictures the city and a small part of the beach. The Kasbah is the ancient fortifications in Tangier that once were the city’s defenses, and it is one of the oldest parts of the city. A small part of the Tangier beach and the beach road is visible to the far left in the top picture.




In order to get this view, you can for instance visit the restaurant located right next to the entrance gate to the Kasbah named Bab el-Assa. This restaurant (picture below) has a nice balcony with a stunning view over the entire city. Why don't you stop here for a cup of medium sweet tea. The hotel Dar Chams Tanja has the same view from its rooftop and is located next to the restaurant. This building was also seen in Spectre.





In the same establishing shot the filmmakers pictured the minaret that sits on the roof of the Kasbah Mosque. This scene was filmed from the same roof where Dalton later comes up after "killing" Pushkin at the trade conference.


In the far background, close to the harbour, a few characteristic houses with arched roofs are visible. These warehouses can still be found down at the harbour today as seen in the picture to the left. This roof offers a stunning view over the city of Tangier. The best way of getting up to the roof is asking one of the many "voluntary guides" that are walking around the Kasbah trying to guide you for money. They probably know someone who lives in the house or can take to someone who does.




Tangier in January 2017


The view over Tangier is magnificent and it is not hard to understand that two establishing shots, and the scene with Bond running over the rooftops, were included in The Living Daylights. You can get similar panoramic views over Tangier from several other places in the Kasbah.


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