Karl WP Beyer The Kingdom of Morocco has a well-known cruise destination in Agadir. Around 50 cruise ships call at Agadir each year. The port city is located on the Atlantic about 400 kilometers as the crow flies south of Casablanca and 620 kilometers as the crow flies northeast of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Cruise ships in the industrial port of Agadir
The name of the city is derived from the “Agadir” called castle-like storage buildings of the Berber tribes in southern Morocco. They served both to store the harvest and as a refuge during raids by rival Berber clans.
Agadir-Kasbah
Founded by Portuguese sailors
Portuguese sailors established Agadir as a trading base in 1505. Portuguese rule lasted only a short time. The Muslim Saadian dynasty conquered the city as early as 1541. In 1911, the German Reich sent two gunboats and a small cruiser to Agadir after French troops had previously occupied Fez and Rabat. This intervention was perceived internationally as aggression. France saw its interests in North Africa threatened and unceremoniously declared Morocco a French protected area.
Morocco's fast growing port city
The city came to the fore again when a devastating earthquake destroyed the city on February 29, 1960. 10.000 to 15.000 people died. However, it was not just the many human lives that were to be lamented, the old building fabric was also lost, which explains why there are only a few historical buildings left today. Instead, Agadir appears to travelers as a modern, rapidly growing city. While reference works speak of around 600.000 to 750.000 inhabitants, local tourist guides put the population at around one million.
Agadir - new buildings
Agadir's economy
The most important economic sectors in the region and the port city of Agadir are mining (cobalt, manganese and zinc deposits), fishing and fish processing, metal processing and tourism.
Agadir Marina
Tourism is favored all year round by a good climate with pleasant temperatures and dry warmth, 300 days of sunshine a year, a six kilometer long, wide beach, large hotel complexes and the international airport Al Massira.
Agadir's extensive beach
Update March 2021
