Morocco's Gen Z protesters: 'We need hospitals more than football stadiums'

Morocco will soon have the world's largest football stadium but this has angered many young people who want better services.

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But for the demonstrators who have taken to the streets each night across the country since last Saturday, this 115,000-capacity showpiece and all the other football infrastructure in development, costing a reported $5bn (£3.7bn), are an affront - an example of a government that has got its priorities wrong.

"I am protesting because I want my country to be better. I don't want to leave Morocco, and I don't want to resent my country for choosing to stay," says Hajar Belhassan, a 25-year-old communications manager from Settat, 80km (50 miles) south of Casablanca.

A group called Gen Z 212 - the number is a reference to the country's international dialling code - has been coordinating the demonstrations through the gaming and streaming platform Discord, as well as TikTok and Instagram.

Apparently taking inspiration from Nepal's recent Gen Z protests, the young Moroccans want the authorities to act with the same urgency and passion when it comes to addressing these issues as with hosting one of the world's premier sporting events.