When Charles II. announced his impending marriage with Catharine of Portugal, the inclusion of Tangier in the Princess's dowry was the most popular clause of the marriage treaty.
English hopes ran even higher round the little African port than over the companion gift of Bombay, for Tangier, situated almost on the north-west point of Morocco, lay in the direct trade route from the Levant to Western Europe. The English Consul at Lisbon pointed out that it might from its position become a magazine for all the Levant, a port which would be used by the Spanish West India fleet homeward bound to Seville or Cadiz, in order to avoid the high duties imposed by the Crown of Spain in its own ports—valuable asset this in case of war with Holland, Spain, or France.