Let’s go together to explore the Aïn Sebaa district, north of Casablanca.

For many Casablanca residents, Aïn Sebaa is today synonymous with industrial district without history and without soul. But they forget that, in the first half of the 20th century, it was a mecca of leisure and culture for the city's inhabitants, nicknamed "Beaulieu". About ten kilometers east of the city center, the district developed from the 1920s around a spring, the "lion's spring" from which it takes its name ("Aïn Sebaa").

Agricultural activity thrives there and the district retains its memory: many streets still bear the names of flowers and trees. Aïn Sebaa was also home to one of the most important agricultural and agronomy schools in the country for a long time, the current Ibn Al Aouam High School. Later, in the 1960s, the district would host the first large industrial farms in the region.

From the 1920s, Aïn Sebaa attracts Casablanca residents in search of relaxation and the outdoors. Everyone to the beach! Musical guinguettes, swimming pools, sports fields and huts then flourished along the seafront. The district then saw the birth of a zoological park, cinemas, markets, a railway station and bus lines that connected it to the heart of Casablanca.

Aïn Sebaa developed its residential vocation and began to welcome, in addition to Moroccans, a population of German, Italian or Spanish origin. Workers, farmers, traders, executives… settled in this district and forged its very European identity. There are still a few houses from this period, today threatened by real estate speculation.

Today, the Aïn Sebaa district remains strongly marked by economic activity. Located on 435 hectares, connected to the ports of Casablanca and Mohammadia, the industrial zone of Aïn Sebaa Hay Mohammadi celebrated its 100 years of activity. It is one of the oldest industrial zones in Morocco and probably the birthplace of modern Moroccan industry.

Employing more than 38,000 people, it is home to more than 500 large national and international companies operating in sectors that are strategic to the country's economy: agri-food, pharmaceuticals, energy, automobiles, etc. The headquarters of Moroccan television 2M has also been present in Aïn Sebaa since the 1980s.

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