Painting the Grey: My Accidental Art Trip to Morocco's Forgotten Coast

so i ended up in el jadida completely by accident. my flight was supposed to be to marrakesh but some booking mix-up (thanks, expedia) had me landing in casa and a random bus ride later i was here. honestly? best mistake i ever made.

the weather's doing that thing where it's technically warm but there's this constant dampness in the air that makes everything feel older. it's 16 degrees but feels like 16, if that makes sense - no surprise, just consistent grey-sky energy. the humidity's at 79% which explains why my spray cans are acting weird and why the locals are all wearing those thick wool blankets even though it's not even cold. atmospheric pressure's high (1020mb) which supposedly means clear skies but honestly the clouds are just sitting there like they own the place.

Quick Answers

a local told me "never in august, always in january" - i believe them. the summer heat here is apparently brutal and the town empties out.

---

Quick Answers

Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: if you're into abandoned colonial architecture, street art that's actually political, and beaches with zero tourists - yes. if you need nightlife and instagram-perfect cafes, go to marrakesh instead.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: dirt cheap. i paid 80 dirhams for a room with ocean views. food is like 20-40 dirhams for actual meals. bring cash.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: anyone who needs things to be "cute" or curated. this place is rough around every edge. also if you're scared of stray cats.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: a local told me "never in august, always in january" - i believe them. the summer heat here is apparently brutal and the town empties out.

---

okay so here's what nobody tells you about el jadida: there's this underground art scene that's been going on for like twenty years but nobody writes about it because it's not "graffiti tourism" enough for the blogs. the pieces here are political as hell - lots of stuff about fishing rights, european fishing companies stealing from local waters, and the general feeling that the government forgot this town exists.

i met this kid named rachid who showed me around the medina's backstreets and every wall told a different story. one piece showed a fisherman pulling up a net full of european flags. another was just a massive blue whale with the word "memoria" underneath. rachid said it was about a whale that washed up in 2019 and nobody from the government came to check it out - just local fishermen buried it.

the street art here isn't decoration. it's the only way people here talk about things they're not allowed to say out loud.

i've been hitting walls for about ten years now across europe and latin america, and honestly the scene here feels more real than anything in barcelona or lisbon where it's all become branded content. nobody here is doing it for sponsorship. they're doing it because the port's dying and the factories closed and there's literally nothing else.

the weather today is exactly what you'd expect from a atlantic coast town in january - grey, damp, consistent. not unpleasant, just... present. i actually prefer it to the intense sun because i can work longer without my paint drying too fast. the humidity means everything takes longer to dry which is annoying for layering but good for blending.

the high pressure system (1020mb) means no rain today, just that heavy grey that makes everything look like a photograph from the 1970s.

i found this abandoned building near the port that's basically a dream - three stories, concrete walls, salt damage creating these incredible textures. the owner (or what i assume is the owner, this random guy with a key) let me use it for 200 dirhams a week. i plan to stay a month.

there's something about working in a place where nobody's watching that changes your whole process. in berlin everyone judges your piece within twenty minutes of you posting it. here, i painted a six-meter piece yesterday and the only feedback i got was from an old woman who brought me mint tea and said "the blue is too sad, add some yellow." she was right.

the tourist situation here is basically nonexistent. you might see a couple of french retirees at the beach but aside from that it's all locals. which means there's zero pressure to perform and everything feels like you're intruding on a real place rather than visiting a set.

safety wise? i felt safer here than in barcelona. the worst thing that's happened is a guy tried to sell me a "real rolex" (clearly fake) and when i said no he just laughed and walked away. violent crime seems pretty rare but as always - don't be stupid, don't flash expensive gear, don't walk alone drunk at 3am.

the food situation: there's this tiny place near the fish market (ask anyone for "the soup place" and they'll know) that does this fish stew for 30 dirhams that changed my life. also discovered that moroccan sardines are somehow different from european ones - more intense, oilier, better. i eat them for breakfast now.

a local warned me that the best sardine spots close in summer because it gets "too hot to eat anything" - which explains why january is apparently the secret season.

nearby: casa's an hour by train (80 dirhams, very comfortable) if you need to escape to a city. the train station here is actually beautiful - french colonial architecture that's half crumbling, half restored. i heard there's a day trip to oued tensift but nobody could explain what was actually there so i skipped it.

links for the nerds:

- tripadvisor has basically no el jadida entries which tells you everything
- yelp doesn't exist here really
- there's a reddit thread about "hidden morocco" that mentions el jadida but it's mostly people arguing about whether it counts as "authentic"
- the lonely planet guide apparently has one paragraph about the citadel
- wikipedia's article is surprisingly detailed about the portuguese history if you're into that
- more useful is this obscure blog i found from 2015 by some french photographer who documented the street art scene - it's how i found out about this place originally

the pressure's been stable all week which means the weather won't change - perfect for planning outdoor work.

my favorite piece so far is this one on a wall facing the port: it's a fisherman holding a paintbrush instead of a net, and the ocean behind him is painted in all these different shades of blue that don't exist in real water. nobody knows who did it. rachid said it's been there "forever" (which probably means 8-10 years in moroccan time). i want to add to it but also don't want to ruin it.

that's the tension i guess - you want to leave your mark but some walls are already perfect and you just have to appreciate them.

tomorrow i'm heading to the abandoned hotel on the hill that everyone warns me about. supposedly it's haunted but supposedly every abandoned building in morocco is haunted so i'm not worried. the real question is whether the walls are still intact enough to work on.

stay messy,

me

p.s. - if you're a street artist looking for a place that's affordable, uncrowded, and actually needs art - come here. but don't come and paint something generic. this place deserves better than your throwaway pieces.*

You might also be interested in:

• Havaianas Slim Glitter Ii Dames Slippers - Zand - Maat 39/40 (EAN: 7909690029151)
• best clubs nearby me in stockholm, a photographer’s wild guide
• A messy, human-style title including Kathmandu
• is busan a good place to live? 2026 honest review from a vintage clothes picker
• LUVION® White Noise Machine Moon Edition 2024 - Soundspa - Kalmerende Slaaphulp met Witte Ruis voor Baby's, Kinderen én Volwassenen - Speelt ook je eigen liedjes af via Bluetooth! - Help jezelf of je Baby Beter Slapen! (EAN: 8718546348457)