Local authorities proceeded on Monday, June 25, to clear the most important streets and boulevards of Khouribga of street vendors and "Ferrachas". This followed the ultimatum given by the authorities under the presidency of the city's pasha, informing the street vendors of the decision to clear public spaces. Indeed, this decision was expected after the phenomenon worsened and became shocking since the beginning of the "Arab Spring"; the area occupied by street vendors and "Ferrachas" had tripled.

Thus, main boulevards and streets were closed to traffic, amidst repeated protests from local political and associative bodies and those harmed by the phenomenon of informal trade. They had repeatedly demanded, at the top of their voices, an urgent solution to the occupation of the public domain. This illegal occupation alters the image of the city, contributes to the worsening of negative manifestations that go against the conditions of a healthy and calm life, and affects formal trade through unfair competition.

However, local authorities must find solutions to ensure the livelihood of families who live off informal trade. These itinerant merchants have the right to live. Some are unemployed graduates; they have the right to employment. It is necessary to reserve spaces for them in the city's neighbourhoods, create new jobs, support youth projects, organise the trade sector, and encourage investment.

In a telephone conversation with the regional secretary of the National Union of Merchants and Professionals, Mohammed Amghar stated: "The union approves this decision, although it is late, stressing that the proliferation of the phenomenon of street vendors and 'Ferrachas' has damaged many merchants and pushed many of them into bankruptcy. He added that the union has requested the organisation of itinerant vendors and the lifting of the siege on merchants."

According to a municipal employee: "After years of decisions taken and then postponed, of uncertainties and behaviours marked by pusillanimity, the authorities seem determined to take the bull by the horns. But the fundamental question is obviously that of the place we want to provide for the community of street vendors in Khouribga. We created structures to house them. Nothing worked. They prefer to occupy the pavements. Essentially, it is a parallel market. It is characteristic of economies in transition. We must integrate these people into the formal circuit. However, the legal circuit does not guarantee as much profit and presents constraints that do not suit the business of street vendors. They do not like filling out forms and paying taxes to the municipality!"

Indeed, there was a time when street vendors functioned as the backrooms of shops. They were our accessory shops. They recovered products at affordable prices and made lower-quality products accessible. Gradually, the market expanded. New operators set up shop. A parallel economy was put in place. For a city that did not worry too much about issues of counterfeiting, the informal market proliferated through worrying ramifications.

Today, the streets of Moulay Ismail, Moulay Idriss, Mfassis, and Chouaib Doukkali, as well as the Al Moujahidine and "Chinois" squares, have been completely cordoned off to be cleared after more than several months of occupation by hundreds of vendors.

Most of the city's merchants consider the phenomenon of street vendors to be harmful and leading to unfair competition, as it affects their business, especially since they pay taxes and shell out significant sums for shop rent, in addition to water and electricity bills. But many of them acknowledged that if this trade is described as anarchic, it supports a large number of unemployed people, widows, and people with specific needs.

It should be noted that the evacuation operation of street vendors carried out by the police and the Auxiliary Forces, supervised by the pachalik, took place on the whole without resistance.