60% of Morocco's companies are based in Casablanca, including all those in the high-tech sector. The city consumes 30% of the nation's electricity and is the headquarters of practically all the major banks. Casablanca is where everything happens. It has always been an avant-garde city, its strength lying in an ability to take advantage of advances made in technology and modernism, enriching them with the best of Moroccan tradition to create its own individual style. At the beginning of the century Casablanca had already adopted a plan of urban development to channel its extraordinary growth. The centre of Casablanca is the hub of a series of spacious avenues spreading out in a star formation, each lined with elegant buildings that compose an admirable blend of Art Deco and Neo-Moorish styles, featuring cupolas, belvederes, columns, cedarwood balconies and turrets. Since Casablanca has no natural harbour, the fantastic 3180 metres (2 miles) long Moulay Youssef jetty was constructed to create Morocco's premier port and the fourth in Africa. Casablanca's Mohammed V International Airport, the country's largest, reflects the style of the city. Recently completed, the ultra modern arrival area is a monument to traditional architecture.

A VISIT TO THE MARABOUT
A few kilometres from "Casa", on a rocky island that can only be reached at low tide, stands the Marabout de Sidi Abderrahmane koubba (cupola), magnificent in the light of the setting sun. The holy man was said to have had miraculous powers - and judging by the sick and infirm who come to visit his tomb hoping for a cure, there must be many who believe that it is true.

THE MAGIC OF PLACE MOHAMED V
There is so much to admire in Place Mohamed V by day. What magnificent architecture! The Post Office, the Palace of Justice, the Prefecture, the French Consulate and the Bank of Morocco all set around the central fountain... which, by night, comes alive with lights in a gloriously enchanting spectacle.

THE CENTRAL MARKET
The Casablanca Central Market is truly a feast for the senses. There are so many delectable products superbly presented that, if you are staying in a hotel, you will almost wish you had cooking facilities of your own! Fish and seafood straight out of the ocean, pyramids of fruit and vegetables mixed together with flowers bursting with colour.