Tangier and Tétouan free zones: TFZ, Melloussa, Automotive City, zone by zone

According to the group communiqué relayed by the press on 13 April 2026, Tanger Med Zones covers 3,000 hectares, more than 1,500 companies and nearly 145,000 jobs. Industrial turnover for 2025 reaches MAD 188 billion (+8%), of which MAD 125 billion for automotive (+6.8%), MAD 50.4 billion for logistics (+9.6%) and MAD 12.7 billion for other industries (+19%). The group cites 84 new projects, for MAD 4.9 billion of investment and 11,776 jobs. No export data is published in these sources.

The neighbouring Tanger Med port handled 11,106,164 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent containers) in 2025, according to the port authority communiqué relayed by the press on 2 February 2026. The port is one reason the zones exist: Law 19-94 even provides that the port or airport operator may develop and manage a zone located in a port or airport area (art. 8).

These totals are a developer's. They say nothing about the price or availability of a plot, and we found no price or rent published by the developers.

Three remarks. Areas come from different sources and years: do not add them up, and do not compare them with the 3,000 hectares overall. Tanger Automotive City is already within those 3,000 hectares. Finally, we publish no distance between these zones and the port or airport: we have no dated source to cite, and a measurement on a plan does not replace actual travel time.

For a company installed in a ZAI under Law 19-94, the 2026 CGI provides corporate tax exemption for 5 financial years from the start of operations (art. 6-II-B-8°), then 20% for financial years opened from 1 January 2026 (art. 247-XXXVII-A-2). The standard rate is also 20%; after 5 financial years the rate is no longer reduced compared with the standard rate. The only difference in corporate tax is the exclusion from the 35% rate for net profits of at least MAD 100 million (art. 19-I-B). Companies installed before 1 January 2021 keep the earlier regime on a transitional basis (8.75% over 20 financial years), excluding construction or assembly sites, credit institutions and insurers; after the 20 financial years, art. 19-I A or B applies from 2027, and exclusion from the 35% rate is not assured for them. To check on each file. Companies working in the Tanger-Mediterranean special development zone and the Tanger-Mediterranean Special Agency have their own provisions (art. 6-II-B-9° and art. 129-IV-7°).

The decisive point for property: these benefits attach to the authorised company, not to the land. A buyer does not inherit the seller's tax calendar; it must obtain its own authorisation (Law 19-94, art. 11), decided within 30 days of filing (art. 12). These articles are cited from the consolidated 2001 version we read: the law has been amended since, and each point should be confirmed against the text in force. The regime stays tied to the activity: articles 40 and 41 ban retail sales and residence in the zone. If you hold a plot, also reread article 27 on transfer back before the tenth year after authorisation, presented in the national guide.

An industrial plot on Tangier's outskirts and a TFZ plot do not address the same buyers. The first sells to any manufacturer or logistics operator. For the second, the law itself sets no restriction on transfer, but only a company that obtains the authorisation may operate the plot, and the plot contract may add conditions. An appraiser using city sales as references would assume a market the plot does not have. Below are the general methodological guidelines, without a figure.

Comparables. They are sought first in equivalent zones (same type of activity, same service level), then, failing that, in wider markets with reasoned adjustments. When transactions are missing, which is common in zones, the report says so and falls back on rental value or replacement cost, depending on whether others could reuse the building.

Footprint. We value what the holder owns: plot area, real right (freehold, surface right or lease from the developer), easements, common areas. Buildings for an automotive or logistics unit are often sized for a specific process, which weighs on alternative use.

Authorisation. Does one exist, for which activity, with which completion deadlines (art. 13), and does it match what is built? The developer's internal rules (art. 14) and specifications complete the reading.

Plot status. A built plot and a bare plot carry neither the same risks nor the same buyers. A plot leased from the developer is not an asset one sells.

Finally, market value does not depend on the current occupier's tax position: it reflects what the market of possible buyers would pay. An exemption running for the seller is not a gain on the land. We quantify no discount or premium here: it is justified file by file. Our case studies, such as a logistics platform at Tanger Med, show the approach.

For automotive and its suppliers, Tanger Automotive City and Melloussa are the developer's reference sites, and Kenitra offers an alternative: see the guide to Kenitra and the Atlantic axis. For outsourced services (call centres, IT services), Tétouan Shore. For port-linked storage, Medhub or Fnideq. For national distribution logistics, the question goes beyond free zones: see our analysis of the State logistics strategy. As for any combination with Investment Charter premiums, reread the caveat on article 43 in the national guide: it is to be checked with the Regional Investment Centre, which supports the project and sells no land.