place was “ boomed.” Till then the little European
colony could hardly secure house-room, and land was
to be purchased for next to nothing. But with the
rush in the later eighties speculation began; the neighbour-
TH E MAIN ST R E E T - OF TANG IER IN PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION.
(Seeagheen or Silversmiths’ Street.)
Cavilla, Photo., Tangier.
ing gardens changed hands at fancy prices, and on
every side there sprang up “ jerry-built” houses, many
of which, unoccupied, have been doomed to decay. The
Spanish authorities and the Franciscans set to work to
erect a whole suburb between the British Legation and
EU R O PE AN IN F LU EN C E S IO I
Sidi Mohammed bel Haj, to which they have given the
name of Barrio San Francisco, where, in 1887, they
erected a handsome hospital.
This influx of needy Spaniards has ousted the Moors
from most of their little box-shops, and in spite of the
prohibition against the importation of liquor
, . r . Expansion.
and narcotics except tor personal consumption, •
the majority deal in drink and tobacco. Within a century
it could be remarked by a traveller that Tangier
was noticeable among towns o f its size in not possessing
one wine-shop, but to-day they abound and lead to
much crime, not only among foreigners, but
also, and with steady growth, among natives. Attmdant Evils-
Gambling also has been greatly on the increase during
these years, and one or two attempts have been made
to establish casinos intended to rival Monte Carlo.
On the other hand, the advent of Europeans has
brought the Press, and the establishment of Spanish,
French and English newspapers in Tangier has
worked wonders in arousing it from its former Benefits from.
0 Europeans.
apathy.* Apart from the Health Committee
of the Diplomatic Body, entrusted by the Sultan with
the supervision of incoming vessels,1 there has now for
some years been a public Sanitary Association to which
are due the cleaning and partial lighting of the streets,
as well as their re-paving and the making of several new
roads outside the town. After many years of jealous
rivalry between the Powers, the concession to
construct a pier was leased to an Austrian,
and for a few years a concrete structure on the back of
the town drain,— once the Wad Dukar—-inadequately
served as landing-jetty, but with a fresh agreement in
* For an account of journalism in Morocco see The Moorish Empire,
part iii.