Gosh, reminds me of the Apartheid days in South Africa. Kind of chilling.
My friend once said he was so confused by the signs for "whites" and "non whites" when he was looking for the toilet facilities that he went into the Ladies by mistake!
Well spotted. I used to live in Casablanca, Morocco and I found the city to be very cosmopolitan and free and easy. I loved it. I suggest this sign is just to keep tourists from trampling over sacred mosques.
Some areas are considered sacrosanct in the Islam world; as John suggested, its probably an attempt to keep these spaces for themselves in a city as cosmopolitan as Casablanca and not have tourists or people with shoes on their feet and carrying cameras and cellphones ambling about at random.
@johnfalconer@cocokinetic these explanations sound like a good reason for the signs however this sign was in Rabat in a little side street. It was just on a wall and I couldn't see any doorway or where it was referring to.
My friend once said he was so confused by the signs for "whites" and "non whites" when he was looking for the toilet facilities that he went into the Ladies by mistake!
A fabulous minimalist composition
Ian