Morocco is the most western of the African Countries, the French and Spanish heritage is evident in the architecture, the food, the arts and the music. French is the other recognised official language next to Arabic and Tangier, which was an international independent port until Moroccan independence in 1956, has always been the gateway to Europe. All these influences make Moroccan culture varied where the artistic expressions benefit from the colourful inputs of many different backgrounds.
Morocco claims the world’s oldest university that was founded in Fez in 859 AD. The Arabs were in fact responsible for a great part of the development of Mathematics and “algebra” is an Arabic word. Pope Sylvester the II is said to have learned Mathematics at the University of Fez, 100 years before the first European University was found in Bologna.
The original inhabitants of Morocco were the Berbers who, today, represent 60 per cent of the population maintaining their language and tradition alive. There is even a Marriage Festival at the end of September when the tribes from the Atlas Mountains meet and men and women from different clans get to know each other while families discuss dowries. The Berbers live on the villages on the Atlas Mountains and the Rif, while the Arabs take to the cities and coastal areas, with a separation of culture and tradition.
Moroccan people are traditionally very friendly and welcoming; when invited to a Moroccan house it is custom to take off your shoes at the entrance and to bring a present as a gesture such as cakes or sweets. Before the meal, a metal basin called “tass” will be brought to you to wash your hands, the food is served at the centre of the table and you should serve yourself by taking some of the food in front of you with the left hand using the bread as a spoon, the right hand is used for the toilet and it is bad manners to use it at the table.
The market culture is deeply ingrained with daily and weekly markets present everywhere, the souks, covered and open-air markets selling everything located in the old city quarters or in squares are a meeting point between city people and farmers from the villages. Moroccans are masters at bartering and price negotiations can be very entertaining and long with a tea break somewhere in the middle. Due to the Islamic faith, Moroccan people don’t drink alcohol and therefore bars are rare, however coffee houses are very popular representing the core of social gathering in the cities; it is not unusual to be invited to drink a mint tea, their national drink, as an offering of friendship. Traditionally men take to the streets and women to their homes, in fact you’ll find only Moroccan men in cafés while women entertain at home. Friends gather in the house or in the hammans, public steam baths where women are free to socialize with people from the same sex. Moroccan women are very reserved and careful not to attract any attention, men often confuse the friendly behaviour of western women with loose values that is the reason behind the so forward proposals and often rude comments offered to western women, a type of behaviour they would never use towards their co-nationals who on the other hand would not tolerate any manners other than respectful.
People express themselves in many different ways from the art of making carpets, jewellery and textile fabrics to carving, painting and music. Music is in fact deeply ingrained, everywhere you go in Morocco you’ll find music, groups playing at marketplaces, or in cafés in the evening especially during Ramadam. There is even a National Festival for Sacred Music at the end of May in Fez. The most popular music expression is the “muezzin”, the music that gathers the worshippers to pray from the minaret tops. Moroccan folkloristic music has its roots in the Arab and Andalucian traditions from where the music instruments come from, while Berber music is the traditional expression of the villagers in the mountains who gather to sing and dance together at times of religious celebrations and for rituals connected with nature and other important moments in life such as marriage.