Casablanca’s Historic Cinemas Face Demolition and Neglect, Sparking Heritage Concerns

Some of these halls have been transformed into landfills, while others have been destroyed, instead of undergoing renovation, reports the Arabic website Hespress.com, to the great dismay of many film lovers and civil society actors, denouncing the lack of interest of the local authorities in culture and heritage preservation.

"La Mamounia", "L’Impérial", "La Médina", "Le Casino", "Le Triumph", "L’Apollo", "Le Rio", "La Vox", "Le Luxe"... halls that are closed in Casablanca, due to the invasion of large-scale film piracy, coupled with the advent of digital platforms, quick to offer all kinds of films.

According to the Ministry of Culture, the box office receipts generated by cinemas in Morocco amounted to more than 54.607 dirhams in 2019, while the number of people who frequented them reached more than 1.097 million.

In this context, two complexes were opened last year, one in Rabat with 11 screening rooms, and the other in Tanger with 3 rooms, notes the same source.