The colonial-era new town of Tétouan — the Ensanche, laid out between 1913 and 1956 under the Spanish Protectorate — has its centre on Place Moulay el-Mehdi. Known under the Protectorate as Plaza Primo de Rivera, the circular plaza is ringed by whitewashed Neo-Mauresque and Art Deco façades around a central fountain, and is still anchored by the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de las Victorias, one of the few Catholic churches in active use in Morocco. The surrounding streets hold Tétouan's best cafés and patisseries, the old Spanish post office, and the city's banking quarter.

Most visitors come to Tétouan for the medina and skip the Ensanche entirely. That is a mistake: Tétouan is one of the most intact Spanish Protectorate towns in Morocco, and Place Moulay el-Mehdi is its centrepiece. The architecture mixes Neo-Mauresque (white façades with Moorish detailing), Art Deco (geometric balconies, vertical pilasters), and touches of Rationalism in the later 1930s buildings. Calle Mohammed V, the radial avenue running east from the square, carries most of the Ensanche's best cafés.

The traditional pause here is morning espresso and churros at Café Granada or one of the older cafés on Calle Mohammed V; the patisserie locals queue at is Rahmouni a block east. The Iglesia de las Victorias is open to visitors outside Mass times — dress modestly, keep your visit brief, and respect that this is one of very few functioning Catholic churches in the country. Evening (6–8pm) is when the square fills with the local paseo, locals walking between Place Moulay el-Mehdi and Place Hassan II in a slow loop. A one-hour walk takes you from one square to the other along Calle Mohammed V.