Cafe Baba Tangier: Where Art, History, and Culture Converge
Cafe Baba is a small establishment in the medina of Tangier (35.788081, -5.811543), operating since 1943. Today, it mainly attracts young people. In the 1960s, Baba was frequented by the artistic bohemia, hippies, and adventurers from around the world. Surprisingly, over all these years, the most famous people from all over the world have visited this unassuming café.
The menu offers only Moroccan tea and coffee. There’s also a rule that has been in place since the café’s inception: “smoke whatever you want.”
Hashish and kif smoking has been prohibited in Morocco since 1956. However, the police turn a blind eye to personal doses. Especially if you’re in Tangier. Even more so when you’re smoking in Baba.
Elderly Moroccans gather on Baba’s porch in the evenings with their sebsi pipes. Young people crowd inside, while tourists prefer the veranda.
Abdelghani Aufi (Abdul), the café owner, shared that the name “Baba” originated in the 1960s. An elderly waiter, always dressed in a white djellaba (Moroccan attire), worked at the café. Customers always treated him with great respect and thanked him with “Shukran, Baba” — “Thank you, father.”
When Abdul’s grandfather opened the café in 1943, there were just a few tables, and the only visitors were fishermen returning home. Women never came here. But one summer day in 1946, American socialite Barbara Hutton, later known as the “poor little rich girl,” entered the café.
During the day, she sat on the balcony, smoked, and drank tea, dreaming of turning Tangier into the African Monaco. In the evenings, she hosted parties at her house, located right across the street.
Gradually, “smart hippies,” as Abdul calls them, began to frequent the café.
In 1965, a Moroccan brought an unremarkable group of hippies to Baba, who joined the others for coffee and a smoke.
A couple of years later, Keith Richards received a photo of himself with a pipe. Yes, these hippies were the Rolling Stones. Abdul, then a boy, helped his father and prepared mint tea for Keith Richards while he smoked kif. The photo, taken by Michael Cooper, became famous and now hangs on the wall in Baba, among many other celebrity photos.
Young Moroccans who gather here in the evenings don’t pay attention to the photographs on the walls and aren’t aware of who these people are.
In Baba, coffee and tea were enjoyed by kings and queens of Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, and, of course, Morocco. Jim Jarmusch discussed “Only Lovers Left Alive” over a strong coffee with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston; some scenes from the film were shot in this café.
In 1996, the café fully passed into Abdul’s hands. At that time, he decided to get rid of various dubious characters who had taken a liking to the café and make it a safe place for all visitors.
Kofi Annan, with his wife and friends, stopped by. His photo with Abdul also hangs on the wall.
What is the reason for the popularity of this place? No one knows. Maybe it’s the atmosphere. Or the signature coffee that’s so strong it feels like your heart is leaping out of your chest. Or the “smoke-as-you-want” policy. Abdul doesn’t answer, he just smiles. Now, his son, Abselam Aufi, brews the tea and coffee.
Despite the former celebrity guests and its central location — just 100 meters from the Kasbah — Baba has very few tourists and no unknown outsiders. Abdul strives to keep this place just for his own.
It’s truly an incredible story to imagine how many different people have passed through over the years. And all this under Abdul’s watch, who every day, throughout his life, meets new guests and prepares the cloyingly sweet Moroccan mint tea and very strong Turkish-style coffee.
