Tangier- worth it?

No. Neither for what it is nor for the time it would eat up. If you ever eventually get to go to the real Morocco, you'll kick yourself in the tail for having bothered with Tangier. If you only go to Tangier, you won't know what Morocco really is.

Consider this: "I'm going to be in the USA, specifically the southwest (southern California, Arizona, New Mexico & Texas), for 13 days. I don't see myself ever taking a separate trip to Mexico, so this would be my only chance to go. Getting to/from Juarez or Tijuana by bus takes up 2 full days out of my trip, for what would essentially be (at best) half a day in one of the bordertowns. Is it worth it?" There are plenty of really great things to see and do in Mexico. With just a few hours in a bordertown, you can only get a glimpse of a largely artificial Mexican tourist experience, you can say you've been there, get the t-shirt and come home with a story, but you won't really see or experience the place very well. Same thing for Morocco. Others will disagree and only you can decide if it's worth it. Morocco is an amazing place (so's Mexico, for that matter), well worth seeing (and worth getting past the ferry bordertowns). If you want a quickie, dip-your-toe experience, I'd carve out 3-4 days and just fly to Marrakech (dirt cheap) and experience the real thing. Problem is, 13 days isn't enough to do justice to even a portion of Spain. Unless you've "done" Spain before, I'd save Morocco for another trip and get more out of Spain on this trip. There's plenty to see in Spain for several trips - next time you're thinking about a trip to western Europe (cheap flights to Morocco from all over), budget a week for Morocco as a side-trip. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much guys. The Mexico analogy is perfect- I think we're gonna skip Morocco this trip. I appreciate it!

A wise decision, I think. Plenty to see/do in Spain. Save Morocco for next time and plan enough time to get to the good stuff in the interior.