Tangier's name derives from the Legend of Hercules. Hercules killed Anteus, the giant who protected the Garden of the Hesperides. He then married his widow, Tingis, and together they had a son. As a gift to his son, Hercules separated the Rock of Gibraltar, and with it the rest of Spain, from Africa, clearing the space for a city by the sea. The boy named the town Tingis after his mother, and Tingis became Tangier over the years.

Northern Morocco has always enjoyed a tremendous geographical location. What it hasn't enjoyed is the constant wars that have erupted over control of this important strategic point. On the tip of Africa, less than ten miles from the southern tip of Spain, Tangier lies at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the entryway to the Mediterranean Sea via the Strait of Gibraltar. Since the Phoenicians settled the area around 1200 BC, Tangier has seen the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Turkish, and Muslims gain rule over the years. Tangier became a hostage to European imperialism for most of the past millennium.

It was only in 1956 that Morocco gained its independence from Spain and France. The evidence of this occupation is everywhere. French is as widely spoken as Arabic, and the sights and sounds of Andalusia drift south, covering the area with the dynamic combination of three distinct cultures.