LETTER FROM CASABLANCA

They're everywhere: At the edge of the ring road, along the ocean, in parks, on boulevards and avenues. But the love story between Washingtonia and Casablanca has a sad ending. In early February, the mayor's office announced that this monocotyledonous plant – palm trees aren't actually trees – would no longer be welcome in Morocco's largest city. For months, opposition and majority alike had been railing against the planting of this giant weed from California and Mexico. Rarely in the memory of city councilors has an agenda item so united the city council.

That's also because the controversy had been riling up the associative community, exasperated by sometimes centuries-old trees being uprooted while Washingtonias flourish throughout Casablanca. In 2023, pictures of uprooted ficus trees on Avenue Souktani and, the following year, jacarandas in pieces on Boulevard Anfa spread online. This was followed by petitions, letters and a host of press articles denouncing "a massacre on the altar of biodiversity."

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