Since the matter was first presented to the city council's thematic committees, the Aïn Sebaâ plot of land has been presented as municipal property, classified as a green space for over twenty years, and suddenly allocated to the private company Bafella SARL. However, the reality is quite different. Originally, this land belonged to Bafella, a real estate company owned by the Najieddine family, known for having developed the Al Hadika residential complex in the mid-1990s, one of the first mid-range projects to transform the eastern part of Casablanca.
Until recently, this complex housed the studios of Radio 2M and, on the ground floors of its buildings, dozens of cafes and restaurants that were very popular year-round. With the expansion of this real estate development, the land now claimed by the municipality is being used as a makeshift open-air parking lot. Its strategic location is undeniable: only the Rabat Road separates it from the Aïn Sebaâ Zoological Park, and it is just a few dozen meters from the prefecture headquarters, the criminal court, the Marjane supermarket, the Bricoma hardware store, the train station, and other major city infrastructure.
The images captured by our camera this Thursday, December 4th, reveal the extent of this highly coveted plot of land.
Images filmed by Sifeddine Belghiti
The residents of the neighborhood know that, historically, this land – added to the one that now houses the Al Hadika residence – belonged to the Najieddine family, who once operated a vast nursery there known as Vita.
Land registry documents indicate that land title C/8447, corresponding to this plot, has been registered in the name of Bafella SARL since 2000. However, in the initial development plan, when the subdivision was established, this land was designated for a public facility, specifically a garden. Bafella challenged this development decree, filing a lawsuit with the Court of Cassation against all parties involved, including the municipality and the government (represented by the Kingdom's legal representative).
It is important to remember that any challenge to a planning decree is brought directly before an administrative chamber of the Court of Cassation, whose judgment is final, without going through a court of first instance or a court of appeal. In this case, the Court of Cassation issued a ruling in 2017 confirming that the land had lost its public purpose. The court found that the municipality had not completed the infrastructure planned in the initial plan within the ten-year legal timeframe.
Eight years later, in January 2025, the municipality renewed its claim, requesting the land registrar of Aïn Sebaâ to transfer ownership of the land title for the plot, arguing that it consisted exclusively of green space. It based its request on Article 29 of Law 25-90 concerning subdivisions, housing developments, and land parcelling. This article stipulates that, in the case of an open subdivision, access roads, green spaces, and plots designated for public facilities—in other words, community infrastructure—must be transferred free of charge to the municipality after the provisional acceptance of the infrastructure work.
Unaware of the 2017 ruling by the Court of Cassation, and clearly misled, the land registrar accepted the request. The land was then registered in the name of the municipality, despite the final judgment confirming the loss of the lot's public purpose.
Bafella, supported by the 2017 court ruling, then asked the land registrar to cancel the transfer. Faced with the registrar's refusal, which argued that the Court of Cassation's ruling was insufficient, Bafella appealed to the administrative court. The court ruled in favor of the company and ordered the cancellation of the transfer. The land registrar then complied with this decision, officially returning the land to Bafella SARL.
The registrar only executed the court decisions. He did not transfer the property, he only cancelled the transfer wrongly made in favour of the municipality, insists the land registry office of Aïn Sebaâ.
What do we want to do with this land today?
The directors of the Bafella company are remaining discreet for the time being, although some rumors suggest they intend to build a hotel there. On the municipal side, elected officials have clearly stated their desire to develop an underground parking garage, especially since the Aïn Sebaâ Zoo, located directly opposite and scheduled to open on December 22nd as we revealed in a previous article, currently lacks any dedicated parking infrastructure.
Whether it's a hotel or a parking lot, any project will require new municipal permits and must comply with the new Aïn Sebaâ development plan, which is currently being approved. One thing is certain, however: the option of a green space is now definitively ruled out. The urban planning code stipulates that a facility included in a development plan cannot be reimposed after ten years if the local authority has not completed the initial project within the allotted timeframe. This situation inevitably raises questions about the responsibility of the previous municipal administrations, which allowed the years to pass without implementing the garden planned since 2000, thus paving the way for Bafella's legal challenge.
This affair hasn't stopped fueling speculation about what's happening behind the scenes. According to some elected officials, negotiations have been underway regarding a possible division of the land into two parts, one going to Bafella, the other to the municipality. Failing an agreement, tensions have reportedly escalated, prompting Lhoucine Nasrollah, the second vice-president of the city council, to adopt a combative tone:"We will not cede this property to you. You will return it to us by force of law."
The matter will now proceed in court, where the case could take further turns. In the meantime, Bafella remains, until proven otherwise, the sole owner of the land.
