Essaouira is no longer the city of the poor as it has been customary to describe it for twenty years. It is now one of the Moroccan cities where the cost of living is among the most expensive. Admittedly, the global economic crisis was at the origin of the slowdown in speculation in the real estate sector due to a lack of demand, but the price increase continues in the vegetable and fruit market, which is still at the mercy of three speculators who dominate the "inputs" and "outputs" of this sector, which constitutes the nerve centre of the city's food security.

However, citizens, unions, political parties, civil society, and the media have not stopped for several years from sounding the alarm, calling on local officials to restore the situation and ensure a good climate of competitiveness in order to protect both the interests of small traders and citizens.

"Since the closure of the weekly market in 2005, the inhabitants of Essaouira have been under the grip of three speculators who undeniably dominate the fruit and vegetable market. Worse, every merchant who touches the interests of this lobby is targeted by manoeuvres that force him to pack up," indignantly says a small trader.

Indeed, everyone here talks about the case of the merchant from Doukkala-Abda. After being the target of several manoeuvres that cost him his capital, he ended up offering his services to one of the three wholesalers for 70 dirhams a day. Here, one is forced to comply with the rules imposed by the said speculators, to accept poor quality products at exaggerated and unstable prices.

"When you dominate the market, you impose your prices and your rules of the game. Small traders can neither contest nor boycott the said wholesalers, because they will be forced to rely on their own means to ensure their supply from nearby cities. Finally, the cost will be high, and they will go directly towards bankruptcy," explains a vegetable merchant.

Many citizens take the destination of the weekly Souk of Had Dra as an alternative to the one closed in Essaouira. Over there, the quality is better and the prices are affordable.

"I prefer to make this short trip every week instead of paying too much for poor quality fruits and vegetables. The inhabitants of the city are taken hostage by a few speculators who take advantage of the silence of local authorities and elected officials," affirms a citizen who refuses to give in to this Hogra.

It is the sad reality. A handful of mercantile merchants dominate tourism, real estate, and even the fruit and vegetable market.