Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Day in the Life of Morocco
Forget the glossy travel brochures about Marrakesh, movies filmed in the Moroccan
Sahara, urban legends about decadent Tangier. As anyone who's been there knows,
the best way to get to know Morocco is through Moroccans. So to introduce you to
Morocco, meet Driss, Fatima, Rashid and Amina, four characters who are composites
of people you might encounter during a day in Morocco. The way each of these char-
acters spends the day illustrates the tremendous variation and some major recurring
themes in Moroccan daily life.
THE FOREIGNERS NEXT DOOR
With an attractive climate and exchange rate, Morocco has 100,000 foreign residents - and counting.
Many Moroccan emigrants from Europe and the US are returning to Morocco to live, retire or start
businesses, creating a new upper-middle economic class. The carefree spending of returnees is a source
of revenue and a certain amount of resentment for Moroccans, who grumble openly about returnees
driving up costs and importing a culture of conspicuous consumption that's unattainable and shallow.
An international vogue for riads has seen many Europeans buying and restoring historic structures -
and sometimes pricing Moroccans out of the housing market and leaving medina neighbourhoods
strangely empty and lifeless off-season. It's a double-edged sword: maintenance and restoration of
centuries-old medina houses is often beyond the reach of the families who live in them, and who grab
with both hands the chance to upgrade to homes with modern amenities in the villes nouvelles (new
towns). At the same time, others grumble that the European influx brings to mind colonial-era enclaves.
Travellers can make the exchange more equitable by venturing beyond riad walls to explore Moroc-
can culture, meet Moroccans on their own turf and ensure Moroccans benefit from tourism.
