The Canary Islands are so close that, on a clear night, surfing instructor Salim Maatoug can see the lights across the water. Fourteen million tourists a year flock to the Spanish archipelago, while in the Moroccan fishing port where Maatoug lives, sand from the Sahara drifts in the streets.
"In the Canaries, you can hardly surf because it's so crowded," he said. "Here in Tarfaya we have 300km of waves."
Maatoug learned to surf in 2004, and started running free classes for children. Now he is working to set up a surf club in Tarfaya, which he hopes will employ 30 former pupils.
"This will help the young people not to emigrate to Spain in pateras," he said, referring to fishing boats co-opted to transport undocumented migrants. "Tourists will migrate to Tarfaya."
But the 130km strait between Tarfaya and the Canary Islands is treacherous. Wrecks have included countless pateras and a commercial ferry that was operated by the Spanish company Naviera Armas and which ran aground in 2008 after just five months in operation. The rusted wreck still looms off Tarfaya's coast. The line was never reopened.
"The economy had just started to grow - and then, nothing," said Mohamed Salem Behiya, the president of Tarfaya provincial council. "The key for us to progress is the maritime line."
During Behiya's eight-year presidency, attempts to reopen the line have come to nothing. He is so passionate about the project, he once rented a ferry and applied to operate it himself. But the government wanted competing bids, and nobody else applied.
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の April 07, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の April 07, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
Well, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress last week to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 football World Cups.
AI has made the move into video and it's worryingly plausible
I recently had the opportunity to see a demo of Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool, which was released in the US last Monday, and it was so impressive it made me worried for the future.
With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope
Last week, time collapsed. Bashar al-Assad's fall recalled scenes across the region from the start of the Arab spring almost 14 years ago. Suddenly history felt vivid, its memories sharpened. In fact it no longer felt like history.
TV
The Guardian Weekly team reveals our small-screen picks of the year, from the underground vaults of post-apocalyptic Fallout to the mile-high escapism of Rivals
Albums
Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024
Film
Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year
Hidden delights Our 24 travel finds of 2024
Guardian travel writers share their discoveries of the year, from Læsø to Lazio
'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital
Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.
Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?