Africa Food Show Morocco

Moroccan dirham · MAD

The dirham is a closed currency — you cannot buy or exchange it outside Morocco, so change money on arrival (airport, banks, ATMs or bureaux de change) and convert any leftover back before you leave. It is a cash-heavy economy: cards work in hotels, malls and upmarket restaurants, but carry cash for taxis, the medina, small cafés and the tram.

Tipping is customary for good service — round up in cafés, leave around 10% in restaurants, and a few dirhams for porters, guides and parking attendants.

Maroc Telecom, Orange and inwi prepaid SIMs from the airport and city shops (bring your passport to register); cheap data bundles are easy to buy

Plug: Type C / E (two round pins, European) · 220V / 50Hz

General: 112 (works nationwide from a mobile)

Fire: 15 / 150 (fire & civil protection)

Hassan II Mosque — One of the largest mosques in the world, built out over the Atlantic with a 210 m minaret and room for tens of thousands — the city's icon and a major Friday congregation. It is also one of the only mosques in Morocco non-Muslims can enter, via guided tours (held outside prayer times; on Fridays, tours run only after the midday prayer).

Neighbourhood mosques — As a Muslim-majority city, mosques are on virtually every block and the call to prayer is audible across town, so finding a place to pray is never an issue wherever you are.

Airport prayer rooms — The airport has dedicated prayer rooms (musalla) in the terminal for travellers, as is standard across Morocco.