France opened the new premises of the country’s Consulate General in Tangier on Thursday, marking the completion of an important first phase in a process that will bring together the services of the French Institute and the Consulate at the Place de France site.
The new consulate is located in the building that previously housed the residence of the French Consuls General until 2021.
France’s Ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, the Governor of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, Younes Tazi, the President of the Regional Council, Omar Moro, and other officials attended the opening ceremony.
The restoration work on the 150-year-old building took into account the need to preserve its unique exterior architecture, strengthen its structure, and restore its exceptional furnishings.
Lecourtier told Morocco’s News Agency (MAP) that the “reopening of French services in Tangier was a natural step, given the economic growth the northern region, and particularly the city of Tangier, has experienced since the 2000s.” He added that “other projects are underway to expand the educational offerings of our institutions, particularly by increasing their capacity.”
He also noted that approximately 4,000 French nationals reside in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, nearly half of whom also hold Moroccan citizenship. With an annual growth rate of nearly 5%, the French community in Tangier has seen remarkable demographic growth compared to other regions of Morocco.
“These statistics highlight the urgent need to modernize the ‘House of the French” in Tangier to better align with the region’s evolving dynamics and unlock new opportunities for the site,” the ambassador pointed out, adding: “This is where the idea of combining the Consulate with the French Institute was born, and to open this site to the people of Tangier and tourists in the future, a project that has been in development since 2021.”
“With the remarkable demographic growth of the French community in Tangier, it was necessary to adapt and improve the services provided to our citizens in the northern region,” France’s Embassy said in a press release, adding: “This was the guiding principle behind the design of the new consulate project.”
The opening of the site will also represent another step forward in the history of cultural, artistic, and educational cooperation between Morocco and France in Tangier.
The ongoing project to merge the French Institute of Tangier and the Consulate will lead to the opening, in the summer of 2025, of most of the Institute’s services, along with a media library. A Campus France branch will also be created within the Institute.