Mostafa Akalay Nasser explores Tetouan's urban evolution from 1860 to 1956

Ya Biladi

30-04-2025

A true historical and academic goldmine, the book «La ville nouvelle de Tetouan (1860–1956)» (published by Sochepress) is an encyclopedic compendium that deepens our understanding of the Hispano-Moroccan heritage of this northern city. Its author, Mostafa Nasser Akalay, has just released a French edition—with support from the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) and the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fès (UPF)—making previously inaccessible information on the urbanization of the former corsair stronghold of Sayyida al-Horra (1493–1562) available to a non-Spanish-speaking audience.
Holding a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Granada and training in urban planning from the University of Paris VIII, Paris IV La Sorbonne–CNAM, and the École des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, Akalay has dedicated 45 years of research to the architecture of Tetouan. Presented at the 30th edition of the International Book Fair (SIEL 2025), his French-language work offers a captivating portrait of the city, analyzed exhaustively in its historical context, tracing key moments that shaped its architectural and urban development from the late 19th to the mid-20th century.
In his study, Akalay provides a scientific lens that blends spatial anthropology, urban evolution, and the city's layered growth. One clear idea emerges, although it requires this accessible academic approach to be fully understood: Tetouan's architecture evolved without a rupture between Arab craftsmanship and colonial use. In this city, colonial forms drew inspiration from Al-Andalus, particularly the medieval Muslim art of Granada, an extension of the Caliphate empire until the end of the 15th century.
An Architectural Legacy Reconnected to Its Roots
Founded by Abu Hassan Ali Al-Mandari—who brought with him inspiration and bitterness from Granada following the Reconquista (1492)—Tetouan is examined here through the lens of modern Spanish and Hispano-Moroccan urbanism following the city's capture in 1860. «I became interested in the post-African war period, marked by a victorious, military urbanism that attempted to erase the Muslim imprint on the medina through infrastructure meant for transporting military equipment, along with the renaming of alleys with Spanish names», the author explains to Yabiladi.
Two years later, beginning in 1862, «Tetouan residents rebuilt the medina identically, and it wasn't until between 1912 and 1913 that the new city (El Ensanche) was founded». This, he says, represents «a form and a theory on the law of city extension, but also a typically Spanish urban solution—juxtaposing a geometric grid city with the medina, without separation between the two urban models, the Islamic prototype and the European Spanish city—unlike the French segregationist urbanism in Rabat or Casablanca, where the two urban orders were kept apart», the researcher tells us.
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By demolishing part of the old wall, architects connected the medina to the wider city, including the large parade ground (Plaza de España). In 1860, following a colonial confrontation, a second phase began—one marked by interculturality, as Akalay details in his work. «Starting in the 1920s, the Spaniards began imitating Nasrid and neo-Moorish Andalusian architecture. Art Deco gained popularity around 1925, and modernist styles thrived during the 1950s and 1960s, along with aerodynamic architecture and an eclectic, neo-Arabizing syncretism», he tells our editorial team.
Reclaiming History Through Architecture and Urbanism
Passionate about the study of space and its people, Mostafa Akalay Nasser says he has been «inhabited» for over 45 years by this «exported, non-colonial, hybrid» architecture. By publishing this long-term research in French for a broader, non-Spanish-speaking readership, he hopes that «Moroccan citizens, especially those from Tetouan, will reclaim this architecture—one that was not imposed on them, given the Andalusian Muslim past and its influence on cities, beginning with the Alhambra of Granada, which even inspired the French to develop the neo-Moorish style, known as neo-Mudejar in Tetouan».
«With the Spanish presence in the city and the housing crisis, some newcomers who invested in the medina didn't feel alienated from this space, which evokes medieval Spain», he adds. Far from indulging in nostalgia for a lost golden age of Al-Andalus, Akalay builds his documentation on archives, national and university libraries, and materials preserved by lawyers' orders in Spain since the 1980s.
He explains that «Francophone Moroccan historiography has remained confined to French architecture and the Protectorate zone, endlessly repeating itself». As a result, «northern Morocco often remains unfamiliar to Moroccan Arabic and French speakers», reinforcing its ambition to break this pattern through archival research, particularly on colonization.
Now that his book is accessible to new audiences beyond those who read the Spanish edition, Akalay shares his hope for the creation of «a heritage interpretation center for El Ensanche, so that the people of Tetouan can reclaim this architecture as part of their own history—and actively contribute to the preservation of this architectural jewel, which is threatened by time and real estate speculation».
Such a center, grounded in research, conservation, and a dynamic view of history, «could serve as a rich resource for training guides and heritage specialists». His goal, he says, is for «residents to better understand their history and share it with others, to appreciate the value of their buildings and help protect them».
Among those buildings, Akalay highlights «La Equitativa» of Tetouan, «renowned for its Orientalist Arabizing style and a true masterpiece known to architecture enthusiasts of Casto Fernández Shaw».