Once an international city, Tangier has a special character that sets it apart from other Moroccan cities. It has drawn artists and writers, from Henri Matisse to Paul Bowles and writers of the Beat generation. Tangier’s port, dominated by the medina, is the main link between Africa and Europe. With a new road linking Tangier to Rabat and the construction of a new port, the city continues to expand. The history of Tangier has been shaped by the sea and by its strategic location on the Straits of Gibraltar. The Phoenicians established a port here in the 8th century, and it was later settled by the Carthaginians. In 146 BC, Tangier, known as Tingis, became a Roman town and the capital of Mauretania, to which it gave the name Tingitana. In 711, Arab and Berber forces gathered here to conquer Spain. By the 14th century, the town was trading with Marseilles, Genoa, Venice and Barcelona. Tangier was captured by the Portuguese in 1471, by the Spanish (1578 1640) and then the English, who were expelled from the city by Moulay Ismaïl in 1684. In the 19th century, Morocco was the object of dispute between European nations. When, in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II denounced the entente cordiale between France and Britain, the stage was set for Tangier’s transformation into an international city. This was sealed by the Treaty of Algeciras (1906), after which the diplomatic corps in Tangier took over Morocco’s political, financial and fiscal affairs. When colonial rule was established in 1912, Spain took control of the northern part of the country. Tangier, however, remained under international administration.