Casablanca's central green lung, between the old city and the new
Step off Boulevard Brahim Roudani and the traffic noise drops away behind a line of trees. Ahead of you runs a wide north–south avenue of tall palms, and beyond it fountains, terraces and the arches of a much older Casablanca. This is the Arab League Park — around 30 hectares in the middle of the city, bounded by Hassan II Boulevard to the east, Roudani Boulevard and Algiers Street to the west, and split in two by Moulay Youssef Boulevard. It sits between the old part of the city and the new Medina, and it functions as the city's main central green space: a place to walk, sit, read, run, picnic or let children burn off energy, all within sight of the city's dense centre.
The park has a layered history worth knowing as you walk through it. It was designed in 1916 by the French architect and urban planner Albert Laprade, working under Henri Prost, as part of the Protectorate-era planning of Casablanca's new districts. It was first named Parc Lyautey, after Hubert Lyautey, the first French résident général in Morocco, and was renamed Arab League Park after independence. A major restoration ran from 2016 to 2019: existing trees were preserved and new leisure facilities added. One detail to look for is the set of old arches from the Portuguese prison, also known as the Prison of Anfa, which Lyautey had moved east toward what is now Hassan II Boulevard to decorate the park, where they served as a support for a pergola.
Palm avenues, fountains and the arches of the Anfa prison
A visit here is mostly a matter of moving slowly and looking around. The park's spine is its north–south avenue of large palm trees, planted among a mix of exotic species, and the grounds are punctuated with fountains and terraces. The Anfa prison arches, reused as a pergola, are the park's most distinctive historic fragment — worth seeking out and worth a pause. The renovated park also has cafés and terraces where you can settle in with a book or a coffee, and there is a skate park on site.
The park's edges are as interesting as its interior. At the northern end, bordering Mohammed V Square, stands the Grand Théâtre de Casablanca, designed by Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 2018, with a main hall seating 1,800. The former Sacré-Cœur Cathedral sits just to the north-west, the Spanish Consulate and the Instituto Cervantes are close by, and the Casablanca Tennis Club is adjacent. If you want to be active rather than sedentary, the park and its surroundings support running, skating, tennis and general exercise.
How to time your visit and where to linger
Because the park is bisected by Moulay Youssef Boulevard, plan your route rather than simply wandering in: decide which half you want and cross deliberately. Mornings are the best time for the palm avenue and the fountains, when the terraces are quiet and the light is soft; late afternoon suits the cafés and the walk toward Mohammed V Square, where the Grand Théâtre anchors the northern end. Give yourself at least an hour for the park itself, and more if you intend to sit, read or eat. The single thing not to miss is the relocated Anfa prison arches — the one piece of the park's early twentieth-century design that survives in plain sight. As for when to come to Casablanca at all, the city's sights cluster in the north, and the park makes a natural midday stop between them.
What else is within walking distance
The park's central position makes it an easy hinge for a day on foot. A short walk brings you to United Nations Square and Mohammed V Square, and the Villa des Arts gallery on Boulevard Brahim Roudani lies slightly southwest of the park. If you want to continue in a different register, the Église orthodoxe russe de la Dormition is another Casablanca landmark you could add to your route. Each is a reason to keep walking rather than turn back.
Start with the palms
The Arab League Park rewards the traveller who treats it as more than a shortcut. Come in the morning, walk the palm avenue, find the Anfa arches, and let the terraces and cafés slow you down before you head back out into the city. Build it into a day that links the squares to the north and the galleries to the south, and you will have seen a side of Casablanca that the traffic never shows you.