Water Sellers (Guerrab) Station
The guerrabs move through Jemaa el-Fna in costume so specific it reads almost like a uniform: wide-brimmed hats heavy with colored pompoms, bright red or green jackets trimmed in brass, a goatskin bag — the qirba — slung across one shoulder and cold water still inside it. A small bell announces them before you see them. They are not stationed anywhere fixed; they circulate, and finding one is a matter of patience and timing.
For centuries, these water carriers were the city's plumbing — men who hauled water from springs like Ain El Abbasiya to homes and souks before pipes existed. Today, Omar Zengaoui, working the square since 1980 and secretary of the guerrabs association, is one of only 26 recorded in all of Marrakech.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back to the square tend to say the same thing: photograph the guerrabs in the morning, when the square is quieter and the light is low and flat. Budget 10–20 MAD for a portrait — they charge for it, and that transaction is the whole economy of the encounter now. Don't expect a free shot.
How Water Sellers (Guerrab) Station came to be
Before Marrakech had running water, the guerrab was infrastructure. Two distinct groups operated in the city: one moved through residential districts by donkey, the other worked the souks and public squares, sourcing from named springs. The earliest documented mention of the profession comes from 15th-century Ceuta, though a Roman-era statue of a water porter at Volubilis suggests the trade is older still.
The arrival of municipal water systems made the role functionally obsolete, but the costume and the bell and the brass cups remained — first as habit, then as tradition. Jemaa el-Fna earned UNESCO Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage status in 2001, and the guerrabs are part of what that designation was trying to hold in place.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
Spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) are the easiest seasons to be on your feet in the square — mild temperatures and manageable crowds. Summer pushes well above 38°C by midday; if you're visiting then, the guerrabs' cold water stops feeling like theater and starts feeling useful.
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.