Abdelkader Ben Haj Kadour Ahmed El Bouanani

Zanqa Ben Kad-dur

The apartment complex is build by the family Bouanani.

Our family is originally from Asilah and goes back for several generations.
The family used to own a whole street in the old city center. The name of the street was and still is “Zanqa Ben Kad-dur”. This street is named after our family. The picture who shows a man standing is dated at around 1920. This is Abdelkader Ben Haj Kadour Ahmed El Bouanani. A highly respected man who worked at the border between Tangier and Asilah. Tangier was at that time made an international zone in 1923 under the joint administration of France, Spain and Britain under an international convention signed in Paris on the 18th of December 1923.

It is our pride to present to you our beloved place Asilah. For us you would say we are used to be here, so
it is not that special anymore. Well guess again, even for us it is special day in day out. When you walk trough the old medina which is surrounded by Portugese walls. It brings you back in time, thinking about how it was in that specific time. For an example when you are on the “Krekia”, an outpost on the wall where you can see over the Atlantic ocean. How would it be 100 years ago? Could you see the enemies coming? This is what I mean by walking trough the medina while thinking about its history. Recently these walls got renovated to keep them intact. But still you experience the same thing over and over again.

Especially in summertime Asilah is worth a visit. Every summer there is a cultural festival with every year a new theme. We had several already and skipped one because it fell in the time during the month Ramadan (the holy month). In this big manifest you can experience Asilah on another way. This festival brings artists like painters, calligraphists, musicians and others to the town. There is music and there are wallpaintings on hundreds of walls or maybe more. Every year new artists change these walls and give them an other brilliant painting. One year we had a Mexican theme and another year we had the United Arab Emirates. It is really nice to see these different cultures. It is the best way to learn from each other and to get rid if all the prejudices.