Beni Mellal

Beni Mellal lies at an altitude of between 480 and 620 metres at the foot of the Middle and High Atlas; above the city the Tassemit rises to 2,240 metres, and to the south the Djebel Ghenyen to 2,411 metres.¹ Both peaks usually carry snow from November to April.²

In 2024 the municipality of Beni Mellal had exactly 209,594 inhabitants and the province 580,327.³ The Beni Mellal-Khenifra region had 2,525,801 inhabitants; just over half, 50.8 per cent, live in towns.⁴

In the Middle Ages the place was called Hisn Day, after a small tributary of the Oum Er-Rbia; Arab geographers also call it Madinat Tadla.⁵ In 1688 Sultan Moulay Ismail had the town surrounded by walls; much of them later fell into ruin and was taken down.⁶

Above the city stands the Kasbah Bel Kouch, also called Kasbah Ain Asserdoun, built in the 17th century under Moulay Ismail and restored in the 20th century.⁷ Below it lie the gardens of Ain Asserdoun, laid out around the spring of the same name.⁸

The Bin el Ouidane reservoir in Azilal province holds back the Oued El Abid behind an arch dam built between 1949 and 1953.⁹ The dam is 133 metres high and 290 metres long, the lake holds 1.5 billion cubic metres, and the power station has an output of 135 megawatts.¹⁰

The A4 motorway links Beni Mellal with Berrechid via Kasba Tadla, Boujad, Oued Zem and Khouribga. The section from Khouribga to Beni Mellal has been open since 17 May 2014, the section from Berrechid to Khouribga since 1 July 2015; according to the operating company, together they total 172 kilometres.¹¹