While visiting Casablanca — “white house” in Spanish — one must look for the color. Do not expect to be amazed at first glance, but if you watch and observe carefully, you will almost certainly get hooked on Casablanca and its people. The simple life these people lead — from workers to high officials — and how they hold on to their culture and heritage despite the legacy of French colonization makes a visit to Casablanca a delight. The people are varied and vivid in their outlook and actions. Fashion per se is not defined but the people are comfortable in either fashionable European clothes or traditional Moroccan garments.
People enjoy the food at various restaurants and hotels but Casablanca, like any other city, has it own café culture. In this, it resembles France. Not in style, but in language. The predominance of French is seen in the restaurants and hotels but the mode of their city is changing and is evident with many learning English- a language that is gaining popularity because of the number of tourists.
The people’s generosity is something unforgettable. Though some vendors may increase prices for tourists in local market, such as the Bab Marrakech, one of the oldest traditional markets in Casablanca, they are always happy to haggle to everyone’s heart’s content for anything: leather jackets, sweet white cheese, honey, traditional clothes, natural herbs, home-made soaps, you name it.
One of the things that makes Casablanca (or Casa for short) attractive is the spring-like weather of the city. But, as the locals often will tell you, it’s possible to experience all four seasons in the course of a single day: from chilly winter-like mornings to the cooling fall atmosphere of the evenings. Hence it is advised to bring clothes to suit all types of weather.
Seafood dominates the Casablancan table, as does the traditional Moroccan meal of couscous with steamed vegetables, meat and juicy raisins, when you taste the saltiness of chicken and inhale the aroma of almonds.
At least once a day as almost a national duty, people spend time in a café where they drink their favorite coffees or teas. Famous football players such as Badou Al-Zaki, have taken note of the fact and have opened their own cafes. It is important to note that while Morocco doesn’t have any laws about gender segregation in public establishments, some cafes are basically men-only where women or families might feel out of place.
The streets that connect the city can prove a maze for many. Casa is like six cities in one with more than three million residents. Even the citizens themselves get lost in the streets, but that is the beauty of it. You will get to discover a new place with a totally new atmosphere whether you are in Ain Chock, Ain Diab, Ain Sebaa, Anfa, Hay Hassani or Ben M’sik.
One of the most striking things in Casablanca is the Hassan II Mosque. The mosque was completed in 1993 after five years of construction. King Hassan wanted the mosque to belong to all Moroccans, and all who donated even one Moroccan dirham to the construction received a certificate of recognition as a kind of honorary shareholder. Masjid Hassan II is the largest in the world after Makkah’s Grand Mosque.
While many people tend to enjoy staying in Casablanca there are others who use the city as a transit point to other cities, including the country’s capital Rabat. While Casablanca is more vibrant, Rabat is less crowded with a more relaxed ambience. “We call Rabat the city of protocols,” said a woman from Casablanca who was in her 20s. “But Casa is the city of the heart that will make the visitor fall in love with it.”
Others who have more time also visit Tangier, Fès, Meknès, Marrakech, and Agadir. Ifran too is popular among tourists due to its atmosphere where athletes from the whole world undergo training there. Also people drawn to winter sports make a beeline in this city.
Whether you are in Casablanca or anywhere in Morocco, another feature is present: People of different religions mix with mutual respect. A Moroccan man in his 40s said, “I am a Muslim but our Prophet (peace be upon him) said that some people have one religion and others have theirs. Because of this kind of relationship, we have the most warmhearted Jews in Morocco; ask anyone and they will confirm it,” he said.
In spite of the reputation that Moroccan men are hard to deal with, things are changing and women are gaining more rights. For example, men may not marry a second wife without the consent of the first. A man may not divorce his wife unless she agrees to it.
Morocco is an open society, but that doesn’t mean there is an absence of traditional Arab culture. Like Saudi Arabia, Morocco is a conservative society with many customs to which Saudi families can relate. Saudis have stereotypical idea of Casablanca as a kind of “sin city.” And in return, many Moroccans share a bad view of Saudi and Gulf Arab men as being people who come to Morocco in search of what is forbidden in their own countries.
The famous line “We will always have Casablanca” comes from the 1943 black-and-white film starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. That is true. It is still a city that gets into tourists’ hearts.