Morocco, Portugal and Spain - reflections

We now come to the end of our two month trip around Morocco and the Iberian Peninsular. George flies home to Australia now, and I fly on to the UK.

Time for a summing up of our impressions.

It has been terrific. Colourful, varied and thoroughly enjoyable.

The pace has been about right; mostly four days in each place. We learned that it was more of a marathon than a sprint, and that we needed some quiet times to break up the sight-seeing. Also that there needs to be a balance between preparation, experience, and digestion. I did a lot of preparation before we started (see the preparation blog). George does a lot of the preparation at each destination, working out local transport, where to eat, things to do, etc.

In Morocco, we used public transport. A driver and car to take us out to the desert, and buses between Fes, Chefchaouen and Tangier. I think that was the right call. We had good experiences with guides. They gave us interesting insights into local conditions we would have had difficulty understanding otherwise. They also kept the touts at bay, at least some of the time. Touts were a big problem in Morocco.

When we got to Spain we hired a Europcar car. A small Skoda, which enabled us to get off the beaten track and be independent. You wouldn't want a large car in European cities; parking would be a nightmare and tiny lanes would be very difficult. Parking was often a problem. We left the car parked while we were in Seville, Lisbon and Porto, and ended the rental when we got to Barcelona. There was some expense in doing it the way we did, but some of our best experiences would have been impossible if we hadn't had the car.

Of the three countries, we most enjoyed Portugal. Morocco is a very poor country and people looked often sad or difficult to engage except when they were trying to sell you something or beg from you. In Portugal, people seemed much happier and friendlier. Almost all of them spoke English.

In Spain hardly anyone spoke English, although the rate increased in Barcelona. I got the impression that Spain had been over-touristed, and that they had learned to basically ignore anyone who looked like a tourist. We found it hard to meet Spaniards and have more serious conversations.

Religion.

My impression was that all three countries had been seriously damaged by religion. The Iberian peninsular was contested by Islam and Catholicism for hundreds of years (from the original invasion by the Moors in 711 until the Reconquista in 1492). But then the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions continued until the nineteenth century. 

It seemed to me that the poor level of development in Morocco might have causes that included Islam and the Monarchy. The scale of diversion of capital in Spain and Portugal to religious ends was striking. We saw similar things in South America when we visited Peru and Ecuador (both previously Spanish colonies.)

Both Spain and Portugal went on to have dictatorships for much of the Twentieth Century. Their South American colonies have struggled to achieve democratic stability. I suspect, but cannot prove, that uncompromising religion might have played a part in that.

Tourism.

We have sworn never again to visit European tourist hotspots in July. Good plan, but not fool-proof. We hit major tourism in the bigger cities of Seville, Lisbon and Barcelona in May and June. 

Emotionally it is more complex to respond to tourism than it is to religion. With religion, we can tut-tut and say how tragic it is. With tourism it is clear that we are also part of the problem ourselves.

There is an inescapable paradox to the impulse 'Let's just go to unspoilt places', (and be part of the process of spoiling them.)

82.8 million tourists visited Spain in 2018. Nearly ten times the number that came to Australia (9.2 million). Figures for other countries here. 

Baby-boomers retiring. Chinese disposable incomes increasing. 

Although much money is made from tourists, it is clear that too much tourism is overwhelming. In Barcelona there is clear hospitality fatigue. Conversation article here.

Some societies seem to have more resilience to mass tourism than others. Bali has handled it much better than Morocco.

Standing Room Only: On Overtravel and the Joy of the Unsung. An article about over-tourism.

Some people we spoke with asked us about Australia. 'What is Australian cuisine like?' The truth is that there is very little specifically Australian cuisine, apart from the odd kangaroo, crocodile and bit of bush-tucker. The real value of Australian cuisine is that you can get all different cuisines, done pretty well. In Morocco, the locals seemed to think they should serve tagine all the time, because it is Moroccan. We got tagined out, and yearned for a spicy Thai curry occasionally. Similarly, Portugal overdid polvo (octopus). Spain had some superb food, but again over-emphasized their national dishes.

Don't visit Australia for corked hats and life-guards. Come to eat well!

We were also struck by the apparent obliviousness to health issues. Spaniards sit around in the sun without sun-protection or hats. The rate of smoking is twice what it is in Australia (29.1% vs 14.9%). More comparisons here.  It is very noticable.

In time, I might have further thoughts to add here.