The Architecture of Post-Independence Tourism: Early “villages de vacances” on the Tetouan Coast (1965-1970)

This article examines the emergence of “holiday villages” along the Tetouan coastline in northern Morocco between 1965 and 1970, in the context of tourism development policies promoted by the Moroccan state after independence. Although brief, this period marked an intense phase of projects that reshaped the identy of the northern Moroccan coast and offered an alternative to traditional hotels. Drawing on a cross-referenced corpus of institutional archives, project files, promotional brochures, and interviews, the study analyses the joint involvement of public and private actors—including Moroccan and foreign architects, investors, and institutions—and highlights the performative role of tourist architecture in shaping a coastal imaginary that combined modernity with vernacular references.