COVID-19 - Morocco Master Thread

[Tim Cullis]

Apparently the ban followed drunken brawling and fighting with the police in the Bab Doukkla area of Marrakech, but there is talk that the Wali didn't have the power to do this and it might be reversed.

[TheWarden]

Balearia have announced the next ferry is now open to all vehicle but no cabins left. They also now list departure time as 18:30.

Alcohol can still be sourced here although not through a shop. Trying out a run to Agadir tomorrow, more for something to do after 2 weeks of not moving

[TheWarden]

Just back from Agadir, no problems getting there and back, only 1 checkpoint asked to see permit and they didn't look closely.

Plenty of alcohol available, so the rumoured ban appears to have been nothing more than a rumour

British embassy has more flights available check out their posts for more info

[Tim Cullis]

If you look at the document on post #151 you'll see the ban was not a rumour, however it was quickly reversed as the Wali was seen to be operating beyond his powers. This is the same Wali who has clamped down on the henna hags, monkey photos, scooters and other stuff in Djemaa el Fna.

[levelo]

Good to hear.
Any update on the " last " Tanger-Sète ferry and those who tried to make it ?

[TheWarden]

Post #151 was the same image being shared around several internet sources claiming alcohol sales had been banned across Morocco, this wasn't the case, hence it was a rumour.

No news from Ray, which I'm taking as good news and he made the ferry ok. Balearia did open up the crossing to normal vehicles on Wednesday Afternoon.

[levelo]

Are there talks about scheduling more soon ?

Or will you guys have to wait until the end of the lockdown to be able to make a move and eventually get out ?

[TheWarden]

Not heard anything more on ferries, the French and Spanish have arrange more flights and the UK 1 more flight.

So we are sticking it out for the duration

[levelo]

I don't want to sound too pessimistic but it seems likely that the lockdown will last until the end of Ramadan.
I don't know if the Moroccan authorities will have the guts and the manpower to enforce it, though.

[TheWarden]

I've not heard any thing official except the current end date of 20th April.

Ramadan will cause them bif problems to police as everyone starts to head home for the period. I expect there will be a relaxation of travel restrictions for a short period if the do need to extend it.

Big thing for us is for Spain to reopen its border to allow EU citizens to return home.

[RayCaldwell]

Hi guys, Sorry for delay in posting. As I'm a tight Scot I don't have a good phone so can only get free internet when available. Anyway...
We had no problems driving up to Tangier-Med. Got stopped once and waved the British embassy logo at them and that was enough. We arrived Wed night and found the place relatively quite according to the couple of Brits we spoke to who hadn't got on the previous ferry because tickets went like wild fire. Balearic were getting a bigger boat so ETD was changed to Thursday evening some time.
The refugee campervan park is fine - 2 x portacabin shops selling fresh food, 2 x portacabin toilet blocks and plenty of fresh water. Weather was pretty crap though and we had a rough night in our tent - lots of traffic noise and very windy - hey ho, my fault for not forking out for sumit better .
We were told though, rather worryingly, that our 'reservation' would need to be confirmed! There then started a slow trickle of campervans AND 4X4 VEHICLES which got heavier on the Thursday morning. Paranoia set in as French and Germans that had arrived after us started getting their green loading coupon (The Germans had their Ambassador there doing a sterling job for them, and to be fair answering everybody else's questions too) but eventually we got ours and almost immediately boarding started. The Moroccan police convoyed us round to the terminal and on we went. We left 2200 on Thursday night.
The ship "Abel Matutes" only offers Whatsapp text onboard - my excuse for not posting sooner. Lots of Pulman seats but we did get a cabin (We paid EUR1200 + 200). Social distancing enforced on board and everyone given masks. Might have been us but meal timings seemed very haphazard (we turned up twice to find it already closed even though we'd been told the timings!) so take your own grub or you could miss out (we, as were many, were allowed to return to our vehicles during sailing to get stuff e.g. food) But that aside, a really nice crossing. We'd been led to believe the crossing was 40 hrs but we woke up on Sat morning already entering Sete harbour, some 36 hrs after leaving. At first we were all told we'd be health checked in our cabins by the French but suddenly that changed and it was all-go to the vehicles and after the usual immigration checks and issuance of a transit permit through France (which we weren't asked for once) we were convoyed to the toll motorway and let loose. We probably saw only ten cars all the way up France! We overnighted at an aires with only a toilet block - no-one hassled us for putting up out roof tent and yesterday morning we reached Calais and got on the first ferry leaving. More cars in Englandshire but we still made good time and got home to Aberdeenshire around 11pm last night. So all good really.
At Tangier-Med there was a rumour going round that the ferry would only leave when full. It certainly wasn't full of vehicles when we left - but the feeling was that that might be the case for future sailings.
Let me know if I've missed any salient points you'd like more info on and I'll reply if I know. Basically, if you want out of Morocco with your vehicle, I think it's the only way for the time being and provided you time it well (minimum time at TM), it works well. Good luck

[TheWarden]

Thanks for the info Ray good to hear you made it although the lack of report made me think you had managed it.

On Wednesday before the ferry Balearia announced it was open to all vehicles and I guessed that was because it wasn't full.

Interesting the German embassy staff were present, our guys have been very very silent recently, despite the Info being published by the French and German counterparts.

Last couple of days we have seen several planes heading west, probably from Marrakech judging by the flight path.

As of tomorrow everyone here has to wear masks when out of their home but they announced it at 10pm tonight so details are a bit unclear as to where we get them from or how the rule applies to campsites.

[levelo]

Great to hear Ray. It all went pretty smoothly then !

I do have a few more questions.

- How did you manage to leave your campsite near Ouarzazate ? Were you okayed by the local gendarmerie ? Did they escort you or give you an official permit ?

- Which route did you pick to make it to Tangiers ? The fastest one over the Tichka then the highway up from Marrakesh ?

- Did you hear anything about more ferries being scheduled ? Yours wasn't full, it could take time before another one materializes...

[TheWarden]

I saw a brief mention of another couple of ferries later in April last week but nothing since then.

There are still huge amount of people with vehicles in Morocco, we saw over a 100 when we went on a shoping run to Agadir last week, probably 50 or so in the village here and I heard Le Relais has 300 people staying there at the moment.

Hard to judge how things will progress here for those currently stuck, the 2 key things will be developments in Spain and the number of new cases in Morocco.

[levelo]

I see.
But ferries could bypass Spain altogether just like the last one, couldn't they ?