Impressive mountains and virgin lands reminiscent of the European Middle Ages and calling for discovery, conquest and occupation.
This was a remark from the French and an invitation from them to turn towards what they deliberately called "the useless Morocco" in order to underestimate it and reduce its value.
But the truth is, that the Middle Atlas was never a useless Morocco for the colonial invaders. Rather, it is an important region that must be occupied and controlled, to use its natural resources of water and timber and to take advantage of its cold climate in summer as a resort for the benefit of "the useful Morocco": The Morocco of the coastal plains and cities, and so that European centenarians and tourists can find a place to enjoy, relax and spend the summer.
The colonial authorities used tourism to their advantage and made it a tool to serve their colonial purposes and exert their control over the Middle Atlas and drain its resources and wealth: Those wealth that are being depreciated
and ignored today.