What's the fake medina closure scam in Fes?

The "fake closure" scam in Fes is when someone tells you the street ahead, a square, or a tannery is "closed" — for prayer, a holiday, or construction — and offers to guide you a "better way," which leads to shops paying them commission or a demand for a guiding fee. The route is almost never actually closed.

The medina’s main thoroughfares are effectively never shut, so treat any such claim as a redirection tactic and simply continue on your way with a polite "no thank you." Don’t follow a stranger who intercepts you with this line.

If you genuinely need directions, ask a shopkeeper working at their stall, a woman, or your riad, rather than someone who approached you. A licensed guide booked through your riad removes the problem entirely in Fes’s labyrinth.