The Red City Under Siege
By Trends • Jul 15th, 2008It must have been quite a sight for the former traders to reach: a red city surrounded by palm trees set against snow-capped mountains. At the Djemaa al-Fna, they unloaded their goods, which were transported by cart and donkey to the endless alleyways of the old city.
But here the romance of Marrakesh now stops. Within the medina, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, camels and donkeys have largely made way for a loud, fuming fleet of mopeds and mini-vans. Tourists are so numerous that one has to wait in line to take a photo of the richly decorated madrassa (Islamic school), while enjoying tourist guides who can explain the local sites in four languages simultaneously. (To ensure their voices are heard above the cacophony of sounds, some guides have taken to wearing special headsets with microphones).
Another drastic change in the medina is that anyone from vegetable sellers to hair dressers display signs saying “real estate agent” to cash in on tourists aiming for authenticity by staying in a riad: the traditional three-story house built around an arched courtyard with a fountain and garden.
According to one full-time real estate agent, Rachid Daanoun, rental prices vary from $50 to $250 a night. “While 10 years ago you could buy a riad for less than $10,000, today the same renovated house may cost you up to $1 million,” he says. As a rule of thumb, potential buyers should expect an average price of $1,400 per square meter for a riad that needs renovation, $2,800 per square meter for a renovated home and $4,200 or more for a luxury one.
A walk through the quarter surrounding Daanoun’s agency illustrates how much the city has changed. Hundreds of riads are now owned by foreigners, mainly Europeans. It’s easy to see where they live, as they replaced the centuries-old doors with new ones. Of the dozens of doors we pass along the city’s streets, all but one is brand new. In contrast with the hustle and bustle that rules most of the medina, in a residential neighborhood we don’t meet a soul. To most Eu-ropeans the riad is but a holiday home.
Although French designer Yves Saint Laurent bought a Marrakesh riad in the 1960s – and most Europeans started purchasing property in the mid-1990s – the real boom started in 2000. The date should not come as a surprise. Following the death of his father, Hassan II in 1999, King Mohammed VI embraced basic human rights, a relatively free press, and set out on a path to economic reform with tourism playing a big role.
