The short answer
Yes, if your photo features a performer. Musicians, water sellers, snake charmers and monkey handlers all expect coins, and some will ask firmly. Agree the amount before you take the picture. Wide shots of the square and the crowds are free. If you stand in a storyteller's circle and listen, put a coin in when the hat comes round.
In more detail
Many of the square's performers live on tips. The guerrab, the water sellers in red with wide tasselled hats and brass cups, once sold water by the cup and today survive mostly by posing for photographs. A small coin is the custom; there is no fixed rate.
Snake charmers and monkey handlers are where the trouble starts, because the order is often reversed: a snake is draped on your shoulders or a chained macaque placed on your arm before you have agreed, and then the handler asks for a large payment. Keep your distance and say a firm 'la' if you don't want it. If you do want a photo of a charmer, agree the price first, before anything is handed to you.
Consider skipping the animal photos altogether. The Barbary macaque is an endangered species, and welfare groups ask visitors not to pay for these photos. If a handler turns aggressive, walk towards the tourist police, who patrol the square.
Keep small change in a separate pocket so you are not opening a full wallet in a crowd.
Good to know
- Agree the price before the camera comes out.
- Small coins in a separate pocket.
- Skip the monkey photos.
- Filming a Gnawa band counts as a photo.