Habous Quarter Artisan Market

The Habous Quarter, known locally as the Nouvelle Medina, is a planned neighbourhood in Casablanca, Morocco, built in the 1930s in a neo-Moorish style with arcaded streets, whitewashed walls and carved doorways. Its artisan market, centred on Quartier des Habous near the Royal Palace and the Mahkama du Pacha, is the city's most relaxed place to buy traditional Moroccan crafts. Goods differ from generic shopping because much of the stock is produced or finished by workshops in the quarter itself: leather bags and babouche slippers, hammered brass trays and lanterns, carved cedar and thuya wood boxes, ceramics, caftans and djellabas, and Berber-style rugs. The surrounding lanes also hold bookshops, a well-known row of pastry shops selling almond and honey sweets, and stalls with olives, preserved lemons and spice blends. The ratio of authentic work to tourist trinkets is better than in most central souks, although mass-produced items from other cities still appear, so visitors should check stitching, weight of metal and the smell and grain of leather. Bargaining is customary but gentler than in Marrakech or Fez. Opening offers are often 30 to 50 percent above the price a seller will accept, and a friendly counter-offer followed by a willingness to walk away usually settles a fair price. Fixed-price shops exist for food and books. Cash in Moroccan dirhams (MAD) is the norm in stalls, with small bills useful; larger shops sometimes accept cards. Morocco operates a VAT refund scheme at airports for qualifying purchases from registered retailers, but market stalls rarely issue the paperwork. The atmosphere is calm and walkable, with far less pressure from touts than in the old medina, and crowds peak on weekends and in the late afternoon. Food options are plentiful: pastry shops, tea rooms and small restaurants serving tagines and grilled meats are within a few minutes' walk. Layout is a grid of covered lanes around a central square, so the main corners to visit are the craft arcades near the Mahkama, the pastry and olive streets, and the Dar el Makhzen side where bookshops and brass workshops cluster.