Oued Laou

Oued Laou
Oued Laou Location in Morocco
Coordinates: 35°27′N 5°5′W / 35.45°N 5.083°W / 35.45; -5.083
Country	Morocco
Region	Tanger-Tétouan
Population (2004)
• Total	8,383
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	WEST (UTC+1)

Oued Laou (Arabic: واد لاو‎, Trans.: Wād Lāw) is a small town located in northern Morocco at the Mediterranean coast. The two main cities nearby are Tetouan at northwest and Chefchaouen at southwest. In 2004 the town had 8,383 inhabitants (census figure).^[1] You can take in Tetuan a grand taxi (located at the Bab Eloqlaباب العقلة ) to Oued Lau and that will cost you about 15 dirhams. The Moroccan government started construction in 2010 of an autoroute along the Mediterranean coast, and the route to Oued Laou is part of it. Oued Lau has a reputation as one of the most peaceful beaches near Tetouan. The town is named after the river of the same name, which takes its source up in the Rif Mountains near Chefchaouen.

The northern beaches are renowned for their beauty. The village of Oued Lau is no exception. This village located 45 km from Tetouan has a view over the sea of the same name. To get there, you just have to take the road to Chefchaouen and enjoy passing scenery of cascading Akchour. For swimming or sunbathing, the inhabitants of Tetouan are obliged to leave the city and go to either Mdiq to Martil or later at Oued Lau.

Those who prefer the beaches and sparsely populated wilderness that combine quality and bathing water opt for the latter destination. The main economic activity in this region is fishing. Walking on the sand of this beach, vacationers, and especially the early birds often encounter wooden boats built by hand by the local population. Every morning, fishermen cast their nets to catch their links all the fish ragione. The best known and most popular are the red porgy [[1]] (or common seabream), anchovies and sardines. The popular restaurants are located at the seaside or the interior of the village market. These restaurants offer tagines to pandora and anchovies prepared in the Northern Moroccan style. Namely with a mixture of garlic, parsley, thyme, paprika and lemon juice. This tagine is cooked and presented in an oval ceramic dish called Tagra. Local dishes include a plate of grilled sardines and accompanied by a salad of tomatoes and onions. Every Tuesday, local products are sold in the large plaza market in Oued Lau.Products such as cotton fabric, striped in different colors, "Mendil" the local name, are sold here..

As in much of Morocco, disparities in wealth are clear to see. Poorer inhabitants are said to try to trick tourists into relinquishing some money through elaborate tales. The wealthier often rent their houses to tourists in the holiday seasons, especially since King Mohamed VI summoned that the North of Morocco had to develop to a tourist area. All along the coast you see nowadays big hotels as in Spain and it will not take a long time before the whole Moroccan atmosphere has transformed in the nowadays modern unitity culture.A visit to local cafés where the locals are resident, quickly familiarises one to the smell of "kif"; grown ups are forgetting their problems in smoking their "kif" pipes. As long there is no trading, Moroccan police tend not to inerfere. However, the beaches are guarded by armed policemen at night. The tourist season does not last long (June-September) and after that Oued Laou becomes much calmer.

External links

• Pictures of a journey from Oued Laou to Chefchaouen

References and notes

1. ^ world-gazetteer.com

v t e Tangier-Tetuan region Capital: Tangier Provinces Chefchaouen Province  · Fahs-Anjra province  · Larache Province  · Tangier-Assilah province  · Tetuan Province Cities Asilah  · Bab Berrad  · Bab Taza  · Brikcha  · Chefchawn  · Dar Bni Karrich  · Fnideq  · Gueznaia  · Jebha  · Karia  · Khemis Sahel  · Ksar El Kbir  · Ksar es-Seghir  · Larache  · Martil  · M'dyaq  · Moqrisset  · Ouad Laou  · Tangier  · Tetuan  · Tnin Sidi Lyamani  · Zoumi

Coordinates: 35°27′N 5°5′W / 35.45°N 5.083°W / 35.45; -5.083