Casablanca – Starting out in Morocco

Dale Dunlop The Maritime Explorer

Tuesday, October 28th, 2025

This is my second post from the recently completed Adventures Abroad 15 day Essential Morocco tour, ably guided by Laura Carballo with assistance from George Alexander. The first post was an overview of the trip highlighting the reasons why Morocco is a great destination and why Adventures Abroad is the tour company that you should choose to take you there. In this post I’ll focus on the city of Casablanca which we visited on the first full day of the tour as well as the day before.

History of Casablanca

Casablanca is Morocco’s only true metropolis with an urban agglomeration of just over 4,000,000. It is the commercial, financial and manufacturing centre of the country as well as the major port. Although it has a history going back to the Phoenicians, it never really became a city of importance until Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah rebuilt it in the 18th century from the ruins left behind after the Portuguese destroyed the place in the 16th century. He named the new city Dar al Beida, which translates as ‘white house’ and in turn to Casablanca by the Spanish. Why the Spanish and not the Arabic name stuck is something I could not determine.

Casablanca really didn’t begin to develop into an important city until the 20th century when the French made major infrastructure improvements that shaped the city of today. Chances are none of this is of much importance to the average tourist who is much more likely to associate Casablanca with the movie of the same name and the sense of intrigue and mystery the name connotes. That stereotype is not without its foundation. During WWII Casablanca became a centre for resistance to the Vichy government which technically ruled Morocco, but on the ground was a hotspot for both Allied and Axis intrigues, not dissimilar to those portrayed in the movie. In November 1942 Casablanca was the site of one of the least known and most ambitious amphibious landings during the entire war. American troops led by General George Patton came all the way across the Atlantic to land on the shores of Morocco and after some Vichy resistance, occupied Casablanca on November 11. Later in January 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill met here in the famous Casablanca Conference that resulted in the doctrine of ‘unconditional surrender’ that was to be the guiding tenet for the rest of the war. Also in attendance were Charles De Gaulle and King Muhammad V who were later to become protagonists.

After the war Casablanca was the centre of resistance to French rule, particularly from 1953-55 when Muhammad V was exiled to Madagascar. Today Casablanca is a city that still maintains strong ties of loyalty to the Moroccan royal family, but conversely is often the place where anti-government protests begin. As recently as this September protests led by Gen Z 212, rocked the city. With over half the country’s population under 35, the anger over the excessive spending on the upcoming 2030 World Cup versus the failure to invest in health care and education, boiled over. As with similar protests in 2010-11, the King responded by promising reforms and it appears that the protesters have taken him at his word as the city has been calm for the past few weeks before our arrival.

Alison and I arrive in Morocco a day in advance of the start of the Adventures Abroad tour which we always do, both to get ourselves acclimatized to the time change, four hours ahead in our case, and just to poke around on our own. Getting through customs is no problem and our prearranged driver is waiting to take us to the Casablanca Marriott. The drive to the hotel is uneventful with little traffic to speak of, very decent roads and a driver who obeys the speed limit. Along the way I saw no signs of the recent protests and a city that was not particularly inspiring to look at.

The Casablanca Marriott is a large modern hotel in a reasonably nice area of the city from where you can walk to most of the more interesting sites in the city. It is quite a contrast to every other place we’ll stay on this tour, both because of its size and its modernity.

As I am wont to do, I like to make sampling the local beer one of my first priorities on venturing into a new country. In the case of Morocco it is Casablanca lager, a refreshing, but not great quaff. Little was I to know how infrequent my interactions with this or any other type of beer would be going forward.

After getting settled in that first day, on the morning of the second day Alison and I set out on foot to explore Casablanca. Our first destination is the waterfront from where we hope to get a good look at the Hassan II mosque which we will visit on the first day of the AA tour. It’s a quite pleasant walk along the outside walls of the Casablanca medina on the one side and the port of Casablanca on the other. The medina walls create a four-kilometre enclosure which has eight gates within which many people still live. We’ll check it out later on this walk.

Along the way we pass this very apropos sign and see the first of the hundreds of minarets we will see in Morocco. Do you notice anything unusual about it?

Our First Minaret, Casablanca — Our First Minaret

Other than the fact that this minaret is quite striking, it is also square, not round like the ones that come to mind for most people – think of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul for example. The minarets of Morocco were heavily influenced by the Umayyad Caliphate that ruled Andalusia for many centuries and erected the famous Giralda in Seville and the minaret of Cordoba, both of which are now Catholic bell towers. Over the next three weeks in Morocco I never saw a single round minaret.

At the northeast corner of the medina walls there is this sign for Rick’s Cafe which is just around the corner. It is one of the most popular places in the city as it apparently faithfully recreates the decor and atmosphere of the cafe Humphrey Bogart runs in the movie. We were unable to get in without a reservation, but do have one for our last night in the city on October 30th. I’ll give a full report on it after our visit.

Continuing past the large Marina shopping mall we come to our first views of the Hassan II mosque and a passerrby offers to take our photo.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca — Hassan II Mosque

From here it’s a short distance to the waterfront where there is an even better view of the mosque and the lighthouse in the far distance.

Originally I had planned to walk to the lighthouse, but it’s pretty far away so we opt to check out the medina. In retrospect, the Casablanca medina is pretty tame. The streets are quite wide and it is brighter than most. Inside there are a number of shops catering to tourists and others to the locals that live here. It is here that I first learned that the vendors will not harass you and that the atmosphere is a lot more civilized than in an Egyptian or Turkish bazaar. I did actually buy a belt to replace the one I was wearing which was pretty worn out.

For some reason I didn’t take any pictures in the medina and we emerged on the far side near the large pigeon infested Muhammad V Square where this welcome to Casablanca display was awaiting me.

Casablanca Welcome — Welcome to Casablanca

Other than the flying rats, this is a nice square with the city hall on one side and the Palais du Justice on another.

Justice Palace, Casablanca — Justice Palace

Between here and the Casablanca Marriott there is an area of art deco buildings, most of which are in a sad state of repair, none of which I photographed. There is also an open air market where one of my favourite photographic targets came into view.

I’m always amazed at the huge variety of fish, shrimp and shellfish you find at just about any market that’s not in Canada. Why we have so few species in our markets compared to others is something I’ve never really figured out. BTW some of those shrimp are about the reddest I have ever seen.

So it was a good day rambling around Casablanca before returning to the hotel where later that evening we met Laura, George and our fifteen other intrepid travellers. After introductions we headed just down the street for our vfirst collective repast and I had my first lamb tagine and also learned that few Moroccan restaurants, even in a city as metropolitan as Casablanca, serve alcohol.

The tagine was great and would have been even better with a glass of shiraz to complement the fruitiness of the sauce.

Hassan II Mosque

The next morning we embarked on the Adventures Abroad tour of Morocco, stopping briefly at Muhammad V Square before heading to what is undoubtedly Casablanca’s main attraction, the Hassan II Mosque. Built between 1986 to 1993 at the behest of King Hassan II, it has, at 200 metres (656 feet) the tallest minaret in the world.

Hassan II Minaret, Casablanca — Hassan II Minaret

Over 12,500 artisans and construction workers were involved in the undertaking that also includes a museum and an academy.

The interior of the mosque can hold 25,000 worshippers and the outside plaza where I am standing, another 80,000. During Ramadan our local guide tells us that up to half a million will cram into this space.

Near the entrance are a series of 41 ablution fountains with beautiful tile work.

The word monumental does not do this edifice justice. There appears to be a long line of people waiting to get in and once inside I expect it to be quite crowded, but not so. It is so immense that each group can easily find a place of its own to listen to their local guide.

The dimensions are so large that without a wide-angle lens you really can’t capture the essence of this place so I won’t try. Trust me, you will be overwhelmed.

Interestingly, this is one of only two active mosques in Morocco that permit non-Muslims inside.

Aside from the mosque we also visited the museum where I was more successful in capturing some of fine pieces of Moorish craftsmanship.