A Visit to Chefchaouen, the Blue City

AZDEAN: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Destination Morocco podcast. In today's episode, we're here from Chefchaouen, and we have a local guide, an expert. He's actually a national guide, Mr. Hamid, and he's going to take us through a journey, everything you need to know and visit and see in Chefchaouen. Mr. Hamid, welcome to our podcast.

HAMID: Thank you so much. And thank you for being here. welcome to Chefchaouen, to enjoy this beautiful area. So I'm Hamid Tudoum, a local guide based in Chefchaouen. I do all of Morocco's circuits. So here we are in Chefchaouen. Chefchaouen is one of the best destination nowadays in Morocco. 

AZDEAN: I completely agree. Now, Mr. Hamid, can you tell the audience a little about you, a little bit about your story, and then we'll move to Chefchaouen. The story of Chefchaouen, how it got its name, and so forth and so forth, and the colors, the blue color and the white. So, would [00:01:00] you please tell us your story? 

HAMID: Yeah, I used to be a national guide, in the last years from 2012 to 18, I used to do this job for a long time.

Now I'm a licensed guide from the Department of Tourism. Of course, after long process, exams. I'm so happy to be as a Moroccan guide, enjoying my life, my job. So, I would like explain a little bit, as a small introduction, explaining the meaning of the town, which is Chefchaouen.

AZDEAN: Before we do that, I have a couple of questions for you. Welcome. Um, you know, Chefchaouen, the north side of Morocco, the northern part of Morocco, they speak few languages, quite a bit, actually. just for the audience, what are languages you speak, please, Mr. Hamid? Just to give them an idea. 

HAMID: Yeah, I just speak, French and, English.

Of course, I arise with French From the [00:02:00] beginning, and I studied for a long time the British and American accent language. At the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fes. I love this, languages. So it was my dream from, when I used to be like a teen. I, I try to learn this English. I read a lot of books.

AZDEAN: That's amazing. 

HAMID: So I do feel so comfortable with my English. 

AZDEAN: Your English is excellent. 

HAMID: Thank you so much. And during working in hotels and restaurants, I learned also Spanish. Spanish, yes. A little bit Portuguese and Hebrew. 

AZDEAN: Hebrew. 

HAMID: Yeah. 

AZDEAN: Nice. 

HAMID: Yeah, thank you. 

AZDEAN: So, anybody, so, as you can see, there's, he speaks quite, a variety of languages.

So, a lot of people can book you and, and, and hire you as their local guide or even national guide. That's incredible. 

HAMID: Thank you so much. 

AZDEAN: So, go ahead and tell us a little bit of history about Chefchaouen and also how the city got its name and what does it mean. 

HAMID: Mm hmm. Yeah, Chefchaouen, it's considered one of the most [00:03:00] antique old areas in Morocco, especially here in the north.

So, this town used to be founded dating back to 1471. Yeah, founded by the Moorish refugees of south of Spain. Okay. That we call it Andalusia. 

AZDEAN: Okay, so most refugees from southern Spain. 

HAMID: Yeah, so you know, during the Spanish Inquisition, both of the communities, the Muslim one and the Jewish one in Andalusia, in south of Spain, they used to be like a victim of the Inquisition.

So they came here as refugees. I see. And they choose this area hidden between the mountains, these mountains. So they start building the Medina, The first constructions in the Andalus neighborhood. So they surrounded Medina with a big wall, like a fort. Yeah. and Chefchaouen been founded by Moulay Ali Bin Rashid, is a Muslim Moorish man.

So the first arrival to Chefchaouen used to be a Muslim community. Then [00:04:00] the most, movements. used to be the Jewish community of Spain, of Andalusia. So, they lived, both of them, in the Medina, and first constructions used to be in the Andalus neighborhood. I see. Including the fortress, the casbah..

So the kasbah, it looks like a military settlement that's been founded to fight the Portuguese invasion to the north of Morocco. 

AZDEAN: I see. 

Okay. Wow. 

HAMID: So, but the constructions of Chefchaouen dating back for the 15th century, are not renovated, but from the first visit of our king to Chefchaouen in 2005, the Medina became more and more famous.

Yes. Yeah, it is well known with the kind of, uh, ecologic tourism. So the main reason why the people come in here, right, from Raqqa or others, here to relax. Yeah. They can bring back the energy easily in the town here. 

Yeah, definitely. I totally agree [00:05:00] because Chefchaouen has its own vibe, its own culture.

The people in Chefchaouen are really, really different. Extremely hospitable, very friendly, very welcoming. before we did this, I mean, we walked around for about maybe an hour or so and Mr. Hamid shared a lot of really, really good things. information with us and most of it I really did not know and that's what we're trying to capture here in this episode that information to share with the audience and I know a lot of people will absolutely appreciate it just the same way that I do and my team does as well So, what does Chefchaouen really mean?

HAMID: Yeah, the, the meaning of Chefchaouen as a dialectic, Berber word, local word here, it is composed from two words. The first part is Shouf, that means in the Moroccan dialectic, "look, hey, look, Shouf!" And Shawan are the horns. The horns. Yeah, the horns. 

AZDEAN:

HAMID: Like a bull's horns. Exactly, yeah. Because the localization of the town is between two peaks of rift mountains that looks like horns.

I see. So for this reason they used to call this by look to the [00:06:00] horns. Look to the horns. Yes. Okay. This is the real meaning of the town. But I would like tell you that in Chefchaouen you can enjoy a lot of things. Many activities here. It is first well known with the beautiful, famous, park, National Park, Akchour.

It is so amazing. It's the waterfalls. Yeah. can choose between the destination to the waterfalls. It's gorgeous waterfalls. At the same time, there's a different destination to the Gorge Bridge. I see. Okay. Yeah. So, it's about virgin nature, where the people, they can enjoy hiking, trekking in the mountains.

It's full of rivers. I see. It's still not damaged with the men, it's still natural, it's so beautiful and amazing. That's why Chefchaouen will worth being visited. 

AZDEAN: Okay, perfect. So, we are here. Right now doing this interview from Dar Echchaouen, which is one of my favorite places, the riad. The management, they have been extremely hospitable to us, very, very [00:07:00] nice to us, and we use this riad for our clients and guests as well.

So the last time that I was here four years ago, this is where we stayed and I can see few renovations. they added an elevator. They added, a little cafe, which you have showed me earlier. They moved the kitchen from one side to another side. So they did, they expanded as well. So the place looks incredible.

It actually looks better than, last time. Last time was amazing, but this time it just, you know, they did a lot of, work during the pandemic, as Mr. Hamid was explaining to me. So I, I highly recommend, uh, If you're coming to Chefchaouen, this is definitely the place to be, without a doubt.

It's beautiful. It's located next to you. Know, I'll let you, I'll let you take, take it, but also I wanna, if you could tell the audience the distance between here, Dar Echchaouen, for example, and to Akchour Yeah. Where they're gonna go do trekking or the, 

the, yeah. Right here we are in Dar Echchaouen. It's my favorite riad here.

It's so nice. warm welcoming [00:08:00]. They have nice, uh, Moroccan kitchen, beautiful rooms, it is situated in nice panoramic, area. Yes. It's so quiet also. The guests, they can spend their night here so quietly. And, it is surrounded with many mountains where we can just start in our hiking and trekking from here.

Absolutely. And the access from all of the destination is so easy also. 

Okay. Yeah. So let's say you said that the National Park people, they can do trekking, they can do whatever they want to do. How, far is it from here? 

HAMID: In my point of view, we can drive like 30 minutes. 30 minutes. Okay. And the access there is so easy.

Oh, I see. Yeah. Maybe we can drive also to the Mediterranean. It's so nice idea. It looks like 45 minutes. Oh, wow. Yeah. I can see the Mediterranean. Exactly. Sometimes we, we do go. to the Mediterranean in the first half day. And by after midday, we can come to the national park where we can enjoy a [00:09:00] nice beautiful view.

There are many, many mountains for climbing. We, we can do hiking also. And the night, the evening, we come back to the area of Chefchaouen to enjoy our accommodations. Okay. 

AZDEAN: Perfect. Perfect. So the other thing that I want to talk about, We all have seen the pictures of Chefchaouen, the hill, the colors, the white, the blue, the sunset, the sunrise, and all those pictures have been taken from one specific spot, which is located on top of Dar Echchaouen, I wonder we are that we're staying here today.

We're conducting this interview. Can you tell us? What's that place called and a little bit of history about it? 

HAMID: Yeah, the Spanish Mosque. The Spanish Mosque is one of the oldest mosques here But the story of this mosque that's been founded during the 16th century when the first Spanish Invaders arrived here They pushed the Muslim community to pray outside the Medina.

I see. And this is the thing that the locals, [00:10:00] they refuse, okay? Same thing also happened to the Jews. They pushed them to live outside the walls of the Medina. Then, many years, few years later, fighting each other, the locals, they got back the Medina, all of the area here, and they come back to their Medina to practice their religion, their prayers.

Same thing also when the Muslim community, they welcomed again the Jews to live within the walls of the Medina as before, and this is a symbol of tolerance in Chefchaouen here. So the Spanish mosque, we never prayed there. 

AZDEAN: I know. 

HAMID: And the first revelation happened on 2010, and the first prayers also just happened last Ramadan (2022).

Oh wow. It's so, so amazing, yeah. Oh wow. From the 16th century till Last year, the local people, they start praying there while we can enjoy a nice beautiful view for [00:11:00] the health area with the, maybe we can access the sunsets and sunrise in the morning. It's so nice. And the access there is so easy. Between 15 and 20 minutes walking easily.

AZDEAN: Well, it was not easy for me last time I was here. It was really hard, 

HAMID: but yes. No, the access now is renovated. Oh, I see. And it's so easy for young people, for kids, even for disabled people. They can walk. go with the, the wheelchair there. Oh, wow. Yeah. 

AZDEAN: That's pretty nice. Yeah. I remember when I, when I was there, I mean, the view was just spectacular.

I've seen people from all walks of life, just waiting for the, the change of scenery and taking tons and tons of pictures, people playing music and, it really caught my eye, the Spanish mosque. So I was like, why, how? So thank you for Explain that and share it with the audience because it's really important.

Also, I'm just remembering everything that you and I have talked about before doing this [00:12:00] episode, just walking through the Medina. it was nice. It was uphill, but it was not really that painful because last time I was by myself and I did a tour early, early morning and I had no idea where I was going.

so basically what I'm, what I'm trying to say is when you're in Chefchaouen, you must have a local guide with you. It's, it makes a whole lot of difference having somebody, a local, showing you around because looking where we were in the bottom of the hill coming all the way up to the top of the hill it was a little challenging, but a lot less challenging than when I did it on my own last time.

So I highly recommend Mr. Hamid. Thank you so much. 

HAMID: You know, uh, the tour of Chefchaouen is one of the most beautiful and easiest one. we do follow easy access depending on our guests to make it easy for themselves. And at the same time they can enjoy the most beautiful spots well known on the social media on the website.

Yeah. But we can also, even for disabled people, they can enjoy [00:13:00] the tour of Chefchaouen. It's not, it's moderated. It's not, it's not complicated. Sometimes we do choose easy access. I see. To everybody of us. Okay. Yeah. And it is one of the smallest towns in Morocco, Chefchaouen. Yes. Just its, uh, countryside is the biggest one, where you can enjoy a lot of hiking and trekking.

Sometimes we organize hiking for a half day, maybe for a full day, maybe for a week. Then we can, we can enjoy as well the local activities with the Berber people living in the mountains. 

AZDEAN: Okay, so what type of activities would you do, Hamid, with the local Berber Amazigh people? 

HAMID: Yeah, sometimes we do visit those towns where we can enjoy local traditional farming.

When they do baking, they, maybe you can assess the cooking, the bread in the, Oh, in the oven. The traditional oven. Yes. Made from the ground. It looks like an egg loop. Yes. It smells nice, amazing. Maybe also the kids, you can see the kids, they're helping their, uh, [00:14:00] Parents doing a kind of farming or assisting their sheep and their goats in the mountains.

AZDEAN: Nice. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Okay. Um, what else can you share with us when it comes to the city? Because I remember you said that the city has. Eight gates, and you explained two of them to us and we passed by two of them. I did not know. So I know a lot of the audience and don't know as well, but would you please explain it to the audience, the name of the gates and the significance of them and why they are eight versus seven versus six and stuff like that.

Just 

HAMID: the rules in Morocco in order to be classified as Antiquity, It's so important, seven gates are so necessary to be classified as antique old area in Morocco. Okay, I got you. Chefchaouen is a part of those old cities in Morocco with its seven gates. and this is so different than the imperial area like Fes, like Marrakech.

You can find more than 14, maybe 15 gates [00:15:00] as main entrance. So we do check in and check out by those gates. while the local ladies coming from the town, they can sell. Their product, the organic products in front of each gate on Monday and Thursday. 

AZDEAN: So it's easy access basically for everybody come from the outside, especially said that the market it's on Monday. On Thursday, it's a weekly market for the Berber people. Yes. Yeah. So I see a lot of villages. They have just maybe one once a week, but in Chefchaouen they have. twice a week, and they come in with their, you know, products, maybe vegetables and stuff, and they just sell it here. Tell us a little bit more, please.

HAMID: There is no reason to, to organize the shopping by Monday and Thursday, but this is like a Weekly market for a long time. I know many areas in Morocco. They have Two days weekly market day. Same thing like Chefchaouen. We have many many establishment like market like souks outside the [00:16:00] Medina, but the most important markets we enjoy as locals is the weekly market day Monday and Thursday We have a big opportunity to do this shopping and we can meet the local Berber coming from the towns.

We can enjoy those products. Okay. They are organic, cheaper, and Chefchaouen also, it's a capital of organic goat cheese. 

AZDEAN: Oh.

HAMID: Organice goat cheese. This product still not covering the needs of all of Morocco, just we know here in the north. We can enjoy many medicinal herbs. The Berber people, they sell those kind of herbs.

are so necessary for our food and the local gastronomy is so famous also. We can enjoy the Mediterranean fish and fruits of the sea that look so tasty and also so cheap and nice here in Chefchaouen. That's incredible. 

AZDEAN: That's incredible.

HAMID:  And Friday normally is a day off for the local locals here. They can [00:17:00] enjoy the prayers of Friday, the most important for the community and mini stores.

They close by the half day, by the second day, they can reopen 

AZDEAN: their stores. So a lot of stores basically after the Friday prayer, some of them close for the day, they take the rest of the day off, some open, but the ones that have closed it, they'll reopen on Saturday morning.

HAMID:By second, yeah, maybe by second half day. Chefchaouen, the thing that I would like as addition is to tell you that it's a kind of spiritual capital of Morocco. We saw a Lorf Mosque, mausoleum, and the best thing I would like to mention here is the constructions, the architecture, the buildings of Chefchaouen look similar to the ones in south of Spain.

Yes. 

HAMID: That's why the Spanish people, they call this town by the small Granada. We saw the minarets of the mosque composed from its sides, 

AZDEAN: the mosque that you have showed us is very different and unique than any other mosques that I've seen growing up, even to this day.

[00:18:00] Why is it different? 

HAMID: It's so different because the architecture is so different. The Moorish architecture is so smart. Even the buildings for our home look so different than the others. And the buildings of Chefchaouen is an exception in Morocco. They are not iron, just composed from rocks and stones.

It looks similar to the imperial cities like Fes and Marrakech. 

AZDEAN: Okay. 

HAMID: The manner of the construction is different, so antique, but so smart also. Yeah. For example, by summertime, when it's so warm, our buildings, they can keep the circulation of the air. They had like a open space in the middle the sunshine can cover all of the parts in the house Yeah, and it keeps the circulation of the air.

That's make it so cool. So no need for a heater or air conditioned I see it's natural air conditioning but part of the Medina used to be renovated, cause been damaged with [00:19:00] the, the time, with the weather, and also I would like to tell you that Chefchaouen is so holy in Morocco. We're lucky because during the 2004, one of the horrible earthquake coming from Portugal touched all of Morocco and damaged the eastern part of the Rif mountains.

But luckily here in the Western Rif, nothing been damaged, even the old buildings and the construction. That's incredible. 

AZDEAN: Yeah. So I'm still stuck on that mosque. So basically the mosque had eight pieces, eight corners versus the regular four. Yeah. So, yeah, that's, that's what I was trying to, to get to.

normally the mosques, they'll have four sides, but this one has eight sizes. So, which is incredible. If you did not point that out to me, I would not. But this is the manor 

HAMID: of the construction of the manors in Andalusia, Andalusia, Spain. Yes. So the Moorish, when they came here, of course, They brought with them all of the culture concerning the building, the food, traditions, clothing, everything [00:20:00] they used to That's their style.

Yeah, in Spain, they brought 

AZDEAN: with them here. Okay, perfect. Perfect. Now, what can you tell us about this area where we're at? I know, back when I was here last time, it's very famous because of, the movies. lot of people make movies here. Musicians come here to make video music videos. Can you tell us a little bit about that, Mr. Hamid? In all of Chefchaouen. In all of Chefchaouen, or especially this part, because I know, unfortunately, it's gonna You mean the Riyadh? Yes. Of course. The riad and, and the, 

HAMID: the area. The riad is one of the most cleanest one, first, with nice accommodation, and they renovate during the COVID.

When it was closed, so they start to work on their accommodation, they rebuilt a new one, and they restored many things. It's so beautiful, and many stars of movies, of soccer, of, uh, of art. They love this area. It's so beautiful, and it's worth being visited also [00:21:00] here.

AZDEAN: Wonderful. 

HAMID: Wonderful. And their staff is so friendly, flexible, they support the people. when they come to visit their Riyadh. Yes, 

AZDEAN: absolutely. Absolutely. So what else can you tell us from everything that you have shared with us before this episode? When it comes to 

HAMID: Chefchaouen, please. people, they can bring back the energy easily. No pollution existing in the town. Because the local economy is based on the traditional farming. That's why Chefchaouen looks like an exception.

We are proud to be one of the locals. We enjoy a nice, beautiful, simple, happy life. Not a luxurious one. but also this is because of the educational system that we still conserve in the town, making people so friendly, open minded to the other cultures. And we have a big luck, a strong luck. We're lucky to meet people from different parts of the world during the year.

We don't have [00:22:00] high low season, COVID period. The city is so active, busy. It's so welcoming the people and the people, they enjoy it as well. They can do a lot of hiking, trekking, they can enjoy a lot of mountains and the towns. And also, without forgetting the local food, the local organic products. 

AZDEAN: Yes.

HAMID: Yes. So, some of the people, they have asthma, they have lung trouble. They come right here to bring back their health, their energy. Many people, they told me, they, they feel so comfortable when visiting Chefchaouen. 

AZDEAN: Yeah. 

HAMID: When suffering in the big areas, with the traffic, the pollution, they can come by, at least for Moroccan people, they can come by weekend.

AZDEAN: Yes. 

HAMID: Yeah, the Medina is so busy all time in this season here to invest in tourism is a successful idea So I'm welcoming you to come to Chefchaouen. Maybe enjoying the area. Maybe doing a kind [00:23:00] of investment also 

AZDEAN: here. Oh for sure hundred percent Chefchaouen is really a unique city in many different ways But it makes you feel like once you come to Chefchaouen you have to come back it's kind of weird, but that's how I felt last time when I was here.

So it took me four years to come back and I'm glad I'm here. So I know it's not the last time. this is definitely a better experience. The last one because of you and uh, cause I got lost and I just, All I see is stairs and cats and stairs and cats. Yeah. It was just, it was fun. Still, it was fun.

I really enjoyed it. Then I, I went up to the Spanish mosque. It was incredible. and we, we did a small restaurant, eating and tasting. The food is incredible. Can you tell us a little bit how different the food in Chefchaouen than probably the rest of Morocco? I know tagine is made differently anywhere you go, but Chefchaouen, Food is, it's very special.

HAMID: Yeah. The best, proof I will tell you is that basically [00:24:00] using the organic product, either for vegetables, for fruits, a lot of things, uh, are so amazing. And the local food, the gastronomy here is based on spices and plant that gives nice flavors for our food. And also using the slow cooking, basically on the wood.

Yes. So almost of the public here, they use the ovens. Yes. Some of them, they use the gas, for example, in their kitchen. But, uh, our first speciality, for example, of Chefchaouen is the tagine. I will tell you about the pottery. The pottery of Chefchaouen, for example, is one of the most beautiful quality of the pottery here.

Oh, wow. Yeah. And it is coming from the Mediterranean, from Oued Lao. 

AZDEAN: Oued Lao. 

HAMID: Oued Lao. It is so famous with this kind of, pottery for dishes, for anything that we use in the kitchen. It is made from the ground. Also, the tagra tagine. It's a [00:25:00] simple, happy one. It is composed from tomatoes, from potatoes also, and anchovies.

AZDEAN: Anchovies. 

HAMID: And so it's so simple. It's so simple, but so tasty. But the best important idea for the tagra is that we cook it in the public ovens. Oh, I see. Not gas. Okay. Yeah. we passed by one earlier. A lot of food you can enjoy it. Like the Moroccan, all of, uh, the food that you know in Morocco.

We have similar ones, and also the local couscous. Local couscous. It's called by Tfaya. 

AZDEAN: Tfaya. 

HAMID: Tfaya. No vegetables, just composed from onions, caramelized sweet ones. Mm hmm. The goat meat. Okay. It's so tasty. It's nice also for the people. The diabetic people so they can consume this kind of meat.

Okay, the goat meat. 

AZDEAN: Yeah, sounds delicious. 

HAMID: Yes, so 

AZDEAN: delicious. 

HAMID: Yeah Yeah, yeah, 

AZDEAN: excellent. Yes. Nice. Yeah, so As we get in to the end of this [00:26:00] episode, Mr. Hamid, is there any questions that I should have asked you, but I didn't, or forgot? 

HAMID: The festival of music here, the local festival.

It's an international festival of music. International. Yeah, that we call it in Spanish by Alegría. So by the two first weeks of August, we celebrate a big international famous festival of music, Alegria, where you can assess a lot of sense of music from different continents, from Europe, from America, from Asia, from Africa during the two first weeks of August, the median of Chefchaouen became more and more active.

We don't sleep by even by night. The people, they keep awake, you know, enjoying the, this kind of music chef. You 

AZDEAN: know, it's, it's funny. I mentioned Chefchaouen in the podcast all the time, and I say they're not morning people. Thank you so much for this. Actually, [00:27:00] they are not morning people. If you wake up in the morning, the city would be empty.

HAMID: Yeah, yeah, I know. They are very laid back and, and, you know, very cool. So it's so quite, it's so quite amazing. And thank you so much for being here. 

AZDEAN: Oh, absolutely. We 

HAMID: are so proud, happy, especially after the COVID, you know, during the COVID we suffered because we used to live with the others. We do share our daily life with others.

It's not like big areas, you know, we have a small town. But we don't have also big capacity to host the people. I will tell you that the local families here, when it's high season, If you have an extra apartment, you give it to the people, to the families. This is, in Chefchaouen, when you feel one of the locals from your first day.

Yeah, even the neighbors, they are taking care of the others. the tourists, when they cannot find their accommodation, maybe you can knock at the door asking for food. It's so common here in our town. [00:28:00] Cause, uh, this is the reason. Our reason, our objective is to satisfy the people is to meet them again and again.

Oh, absolutely. 

AZDEAN: And actually, walking down or up the neighborhood, the streets, you know, earlier, I actually, we've seen this with the families. Everybody helps everybody. We saw that the kids, you know, they're just cleaning the little streets. Taking care of the neighborhood. Just making it. Keeping it clean just for free.

People come, they make a donation or don't make a donation, but the kids are just maybe just a smile. Exactly. Yeah, 

HAMID: they feel so 

AZDEAN: happy. Yeah, to make the people. I wanted to ask you on this this question. I know you answered it earlier, but so many people ask me for it. And sometimes I don't know what to tell them because of many stories that we have heard.

So what's the reasoning? what's the story behind? Was Chefchaouen always [00:29:00] blue? Was it just a regular city at some point that changed? What's the story and, and who paints those houses blue? And how many times a year are they being painted? Yeah. So 

HAMID: honestly, Chefchaouen never been blue before. Before, the local people, they paint houses just by the whitewash limestone.

No. Okay. For the doors, the windows, maybe balconies, they use the green color. This is so common before in all of Morocco. also, it used to be painted only with the white. This is how it used to be before, just the exception of the blue, the indigo, was a part of the Jewish community culture.

Yes. Just different, they never painted the whole building in their neighborhood. Some of the, those Jewish families, they used to surround their windows and balconies using the, the blue. Yes. Of Moorish people, they moved right here, Muslim and [00:30:00] Jewish, they brought with them a lot of culture, a lot of things, traditions.

So the blue was a part of the Jewish community culture. Just different, they never painted the whole building, the whole neighborhood. I see. Yeah. They used to, in some cases, they surround their windows using the The parts. Yeah, just parts of the windows. And it's about an organic pigment painting that we call it Nila.

Nila. Nila, yeah. Nila. So we mix it with the limestone. And who do this job are the locals from their own money. I see. No need for support for others or government or whatever, but just the people, they feel so happy when doing the cleaning every day and they can paint their houses when they feel when it's damaged with the rain, maybe dirty, they can repaint it again.

It's so easy for the use and that's why Chefchaouen looks all time 

AZDEAN: gorgeous, attractive. Okay. Yeah. [00:31:00] So the other question that I have just as a follow up, how many times a year? We do the 

HAMID: painting. I think, as example of my house, we do it just once a year. Once a year? Once a year. In some, there is an exception, in some cases, some of the locals in the neighborhood, they can repaint it.

twice, maybe three times. When it's damaged, maybe dirty, they can do with the painting. I see. If it's kept so clean, you can keep it 

AZDEAN: like this. Okay. Because some say they do it twice a year. Some say different opinions, but you know, you're a local, you live here, you know, the culture, the tradition. And there is no 

HAMID: obligation.

There is no obligation to paint your home with the blue. Just the local people here, We used to share a lot of things together. 

AZDEAN: Yes. 

HAMID: Celebrations, wedding, parties, maybe funerals, cleaning and the painting also. We do share it, we do feel happy when sharing this kind of, uh, of things or jobs. [00:32:00] 

AZDEAN: Yeah. So the next question that I have, Mr.

Hamid, as a follow up, when did the painting start? The first painting 

HAMID: for the whole area started on 1950. In 19 50 50. So new for the town. Okay, so that's almost 73. 70, yeah. 73 years ago when the first look lady, she painted all over her house with the blue. She became so attractive for the others, so they start to do the same thing.

It's so funny to tell you, as I told you before. Yes. But it's so true. This is how the indigo invades all of the Medina of Chefchaouen. Oh, wow. And there are many other towns in Morocco, well, we're known with the blue, like Asilah, like Essaouira, like Larache also. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 
 
AZDEAN: That's incredible. 

HAMID: thank you so much again for being here. And hopefully, uh, you enjoyed this Medina. it's national park. That's worth being visited. And of course, you can compare the difference between the biggest area and the smallest one like Chefchaouen.

You feel so [00:33:00] safe, you feel enjoying your time in this town here in Chefchaouen. And the life still traditional. Yes. Still traditional, no stress in life in Chefchaouen. You can enjoy, you can do a lot of things in one day. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. 

AZDEAN: Yeah. You're very welcome, Mr. Hamid. Thank you so much.

We're very grateful for you. We're very grateful for your time and, you know, spending just half a day with you and Chefchaouen and just gives me completely different perspective. I've seen some things, some traditional things that We used to have in Marrakech and other cities, but they are gone because of the changes and Chefchaouen is very safe.

so much. Thank you so much. I love it I love it, and we're spending two days 

HAMID: and the things that gives Morocco kind of, uh, cultural richness is it's the diversity, you know? Yes. Each part of Morocco has its own things like the dialectic, the food, the gastronomy, maybe music tradition.

And [00:34:00] this is why Morocco looks stable, looks nice, amazing with its diversity, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Eastern, and the High Atlas also, the amazing deserts also. So, everyone coming to Chefchaouen, to Morocco, I will tell him, Thank you and welcome to enjoy Morocco, one of the most virgin areas in North of Africa:  

AZDEAN: 100% This concludes the episode of Chefchaouen, Thank you for being with us. thank you for listening. Have a wonderful day. 

HAMID: And welcome back home, Chefchaouen. It's waiting for you.