Undercover of UNESCO: Animal Abuse in Marrakesh’s Medina

The Plaza Perception

When I first set foot in Marrakesh’s Jemaa el-Fnaa almost 18 years ago it was a complete cultural slap in the face. Oversized juice wagons, men imprisoned by baskets of sugar-coated peanuts, touts yelling from every direction, and henna artists reaching out their patterned hands like rug tassels drifting in the wind. All whilst the sounds of drums, flutes, symbols and folklore storytelling attacked my ears, the notes and quavers vying for my attention. As a twenty-two, somewhat naive backpacker on his first overland adventure, I saw most of it as the “cultural displays of Moroccan medina life” and with a dab of tourist flamboyance; not realising the real scope of the operation.