Ahmed Aboutaleb left Morocco at 15. Now the former Rotterdam mayor is drawing packed crowds
In 1976, Ahmed Aboutaleb left his village in the Rif with a few belongings and a suit his father had bought him. Fifty years later, the former mayor of Rotterdam is recounting the journey that changed his life. His story is now drawing crowds to theaters across the Netherlands.
The suit is much too big for him. His father chose it for his departure to the Netherlands. Ahmed Aboutaleb is fifteen and owns almost nothing: a few clothes packed in a bag, the belongings he is about to take with him as he leaves Morocco.
The journey begins in the middle of the night in his village of Beni Sidel, in the heart of the Rif. The teenager boards an unlicensed taxi with his mother and sisters, and they travel to Al Hoceïma airport. Their destination is the Netherlands, where his father has already been working for several years.
“A few things in a bag, that was all I had,” the former mayor of Rotterdam recalls in an interview with RTV Rijnmond published on October 17.
When he arrives, Ahmed Aboutaleb discovers a country whose language he does not speak. Reuniting with his father, who is living in modest accommodation in The Hague, also gives him a sense of the hardships faced by immigrant workers.
Fifty years later, theaters are filling up
The teenager learns Dutch, pursues technical studies, then works in the media before entering politics. After holding positions in Amsterdam and in the Dutch government, he becomes mayor of Rotterdam in 2009. He will lead the city for fifteen years.
Today, Ahmed Aboutaleb is telling the story of his life on stage. His show, “Over thuis en toekomst” (“On Home and the Future”), inspired by his memoir Thuis, blends memories, poetry, music and reflections on immigration.
Its success has prompted organizers to book larger venues and add performances. In Rotterdam, the event was moved to a larger hall in the De Doelen complex.
This Saturday, October 24, the former mayor is due at Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg, where every seat has sold out. Musician Hamza Amrani will accompany his account on the Arabic lute, fifty years after that nighttime departure from the Rif.
