ذاكرة المواقع المهجورة في جبالة: توثيق البرج الجمركي الإسباني على طريق ضريح مولاي عبد السلام ابن مشيش

​Title: Forgotten Sites in Jbala: Documenting the Spanish Customs Watchtower on the Road to Moulay Abdeslam Ben Mchich Shrine

​As part of our "Memoria del Historiador Taher El Lhioui" documentation project to preserve the history of Northern Morocco, we stand today before the "First Base" of our field resear8ch: a Spanish customs watchtower located in the heart of the Jbala region.

​The Spanish Strategy for "Control" in Jbala

This tower was not merely a random stone structure; it represented the peak of Spanish strategy following the era of Raisuni, where they extended their influence through a series of fortified customs checkpoints. These towers served as vital surveillance points for occupation soldiers, used to rotate guard duties and enforce control over the region's strategic axes.

​Geography of Surveillance: Strategic Hubs

This site is situated at an exceptional intersection of routes:

• ​To the Right: The road leads toward the Khmis Bani Arous region, reaching "Dar Luis," a point that acted as an advanced observation post for the Sumata tribe.
• ​To the Left: The axis leading to the Moulay Abdeslam Ben Mchich Shrine, a location where the colonial power monitored the paths leading to the spiritual center of the region.

​Our field documentation images capture the thickness of the stone walls and the narrow observation slits, reflecting the nature of that military era. Other images document the passage of time on these towers, leaving us with living remnants of a bygone era.

​This documentation is our pledge to preserve the memory of these landmarks before they are lost to time. This tower, with its stone foundations, will remain a witness to the Spanish attempts to "control" Jbala and an integral part of our deeper archive, which we continue to refine day by day.