I prefer a foreigner at 50 dirhams": the shameful diktat of taxis in Marrakech

Under the oppressive heat of the ochre city, hailing a free vehicle is a feat for locals. According to testimonies relayed by TelQuel magazine, users can wait more than half an hour without any car stopping. When a driver deigns to pull over, he often imposes an abusive flat rate by refusing to activate his meter. Faced with a ride demanded at 40 dirhams instead of the usual 10, many locals turn exasperated to ride-hailing apps, capable of providing a vehicle in barely two minutes.

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This assumed discrimination rests on purely financial logic. Transport professionals deliberately abandon residents to maximize profits with visitors. Profitability takes precedence over service, as one Marrakech driver sums it up bluntly: "Instead of transporting a Moroccan for 10 dirhams, I much prefer a foreigner who will give me at least 50 dirhams". The local client has thus become undesirable in the face of tourism rents.

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This assumed preference exacerbates daily tensions, as illustrated by altercations at the grand taxi station of Bab Ghmat. The news site Al3omk reported a few months ago that a driver had deliberately ignored a long queue to board a group of foreigners. Citing work on national road 9, some drivers were flatly refusing to serve routes to Chwiter and Aït Ourir in the evening. Abandoned to their fate and forced to wait sometimes more than an hour, Moroccan passengers end up crowding into packed minibuses, demanding urgent solutions to regain dignified access to transportation.