The regional capital of the South beyond the Atlas, draws thousands of visitors a year. Its gentle climate temperatures range from 7 °C to 20 °C (45 °F to 68 °F) in January, the coolest month together with its sheltered beach and hotels make it Morocco’s second tourist city after Marrakech. Having been completely rebuilt in the 1960s after the terrible earthquake that destroyed the city, Agadir has none of the charm of traditional Moroccan towns, although its wide-open spaces and its modernity appeal to many holiday makers. The industrial quarter consists of oil storage tanks and cement works, as well as factories where fish is canned (Agadir is Morocco’s foremost fishing port) and where fruit from the fertile Souss plain is processed. The origins of Agadir are not fully known. In 1505, a Portuguese merchant built a fortress north of the present city. This was acquired by King Manuel I of Portugal and converted into a garrison. By then, Agadir had become a port of call on the sea routes to the Sudan and Guinea. A century of prosperity began in 1541, when the Portuguese were expelled by the Saadians. The Souss fell under the control of a Berber kingdom in the 17th century, but Moulay Ismaïl later reconquered the region. In 1760, Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah sealed the city’s fate when he closed it harbour and opened one in Essaouira. In 1911 Agadir was the object of a dispute between the French and the Germans relating to its strategic location. On 29 February 1960 an earthquake destroyed the city.