The straits of Gibraltar has always fascinated me: It seems like the center oh the universe. That is why I chose to live there. On the one side there is Morocco, on the other Spain. I have always loved the two countries.

Let me emphasize now that it is living between Spain and Morocco that I like, not between Europe and Africa. Europe doesn't attract me that much, and for me, it stops at the Pyrenees. Spain is something else, almost another continent. The atmosphere is different from the rest of Europe and I have always liked the fact that Spanish is filled with expressions stemming from arabic.

I am told that Spain has changed a lot, that it has become much more American, like Paris and London. I don't know why all these europeans want to imitate america.

What I like are the big cities of the 1930s. Today all that is left for me is the inland country the countryside, which I prefer much more to the cities of any country nowadays.

Tangier for me is different: It is a city that I have always loved and where I have lived for 61 years. It was the starting point for my trek across Morocco back when I collected traditional music. I also used to go to spain but I have stopped now because travelling conditions have become so disagreeable. Well, soon there will be a bridge and I hope to see it - and to use it - before I die.