Cinema Mauritania – CineAtlas Tangier Project

A historic venue from Tangier’s international era

Cinema Mauritania stands on Rue Mohamed Abdou in the part of central Tangier once associated with the European quarter of the international city. For decades, it functioned as more than a film theatre. The venue also hosted stage productions, concerts and public performances, making it part of Tangier’s wider entertainment and cultural history.

Moroccan groups including Nass El Ghiwane and Lemchaheb are among the performers associated with its stage. The building’s arches, metal signage and recognisable street frontage made the Mauritania a city landmark even after regular screenings had ended.

A nationally protected building

The Cinema Mauritania building was added to Morocco’s national material heritage register in 2016. The protection was formalised by ministerial order no. 685.16 of 9 March 2016 and published in the Official Bulletin on 4 April 2016. Any redevelopment must therefore address the architectural identity of the venue rather than treating the site as an empty commercial plot.

Plans released during the redevelopment process proposed restoring the façade and historic metal sign while retaining or reintroducing characteristic interior materials, including marble. The heritage status is one reason why conversion has proved more complex than the construction of a new suburban multiplex.

The proposed CineAtlas multiplex

CineAtlas acquired the former cinema in the late 2010s and began building work in December 2021. The announced programme combined five premium screens with food-and-beverage spaces and a music or café-concert component. An early capacity plan included two 118-seat auditoriums, two 130-seat auditoriums and one 259-seat auditorium, for approximately 755 seats.

These figures describe the original proposal, not a confirmed operating specification. Published budgets have also changed over time. The 2021 works were valued at MAD 13.8 million, including MAD 2.8 million from Morocco’s cinema renovation and digitisation support fund, while later estimates placed the overall investment above MAD 20 million.

Current status in 2026

Despite several projected opening dates, the venue is not operating as a public cinema in 2026. An architectural presentation published in June 2026 still described the multiplex conversion as undergoing authorisation. In March 2026, business reporting also documented CineAtlas’s search for new investors while the company was in court-supervised restructuring.

This page therefore documents the historic Mauritania building and the CineAtlas redevelopment proposal. It does not provide screening times, ticket prices or opening hours. A reopening should only be treated as confirmed once the operator publishes an active programme and the venue begins receiving audiences.

Where to watch films in Tangier

For current screenings, consult the Cinémathèque de Tanger, Cinema Roxy, Megarama Tanger and Tangier’s current cultural programme. Mauritania remains important as a heritage site and as evidence of the long relationship between cinema, live performance and urban life in Tangier.