Casablanca’s New Urban Aesthetics Plan Sparks Backlash from Restaurant Owners

Professionals in the cafe and restaurant sector are dissatisfied with the Casablanca city hall. They blame the municipality for not having consulted them on the imposition of a new aesthetic on cafes and restaurants. Professionals welcome this initiative to organize the sector and preserve the aesthetics of the city, but it requires consultation and communication with them, said Ahmed Boufekrane, national coordinator of the National Federation of Cafe and Restaurant Owners in Morocco, to Hespress. According to him, the professionals expect the local authorities to communicate with them, sit around a dialogue table and be prepared for this decision. Otherwise, the lack of consultation will accentuate their discontent towards the officials.

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This issue requires dialogue between the parties, Boufekrane insisted. According to his explanations, cafes and restaurants differ according to locations and districts, as well as their revenues. "It is not possible to impose uniform measures on cafes and restaurants located in the upscale neighborhoods of Casablanca as on those located in popular neighborhoods," he added. A professional actor in the sector agrees. "As professionals, we are in favor of the aesthetics of the city, but we refuse that this be done at the expense of the visual identity, commercial brands and colors specific to each establishment." Hence the need to "also take into account the specificities of each area, as the establishments located in the coastal areas differ from those located in other regions."

"The mention of this decision, which is currently circulating, requires modifying the municipal regulation relating to the exploitation of the public domain, as it does not explicitly stipulate the imposition of a specific color on commercial shops, cafes or restaurants," he added.