COVID-19 - Morocco Master Thread

[hav]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

No they are 2 separate issues.

Normally a vehicle is allowed 180 days in a calendar year. This year they allowed vehicles to overstay to the end of 2020 but no news on what will happen in 2021 yet

Understood. Just wondering about the visual conflict of evidence between a long term vehicle like a camper or overlander and a short term hotel reservation from Booking.com ....

[TheWarden]

From people who travelled to Morocco recently there seems to be no correlation, just a booking seems to be enough.

Vrecha, who posted above, is the most recent person I know who has gone in a vehicle.

[vrecha]

Originally Posted by hav

Any relationship or questions between the total nights on your hotel reservation and the total time they granted for your vehicle to be in Morocco?

None (so far). The police control at the border only looked at the internet if the hotel exists. No questions asked. The road controls just wave you through.



So far haven't met or seen any other tourists, even in cities like Midelt, Errachidia, Zagora and on the main roads betwen them. The places that once thrived with tourism to the point that I was absolutely avoiding them are mostly like ghost towns. Unbelievable. Eastern parts north of the Atlas seems to have more or less usual life and vibe, though.

[barrier911]

Excellent information, thank you.

We’re looking to take 5 motorcycles to Morocco in January and I’d be interested to hear further updates from you as your trip progresses.
We traveled down through Western Sahara earlier this year and made it to Dakar. That’s obviously out of the question for the foreseeable future.

Originally Posted by vrecha

Writing here as it will maybe be useful for other travellers ...


Entered Morocco yesterday.
Ferry GNV: Genoa --> Tanger Med
Nominaly 48h, we arrived in 42h.
Before embarking in Genoa, medical stuff inspected PCR tests in some detail, some vehicles turned back.
There were less than one sixth of the usual number of passengers.

Morocco customs quick and efficient, they looked only for hotel reservation (we had printed page from booking.com - ok, accepted), no one looked at the PCR test.


Once inside, the situation is quite relaxed, don't know about the big cities as we avoid them.


Heading south (while keeping as east as possible).

[hav]

Originally Posted by vrecha

None (so far). The police control at the border only looked at the internet if the hotel exists. No questions asked. The road controls just wave you through.



So far haven't met or seen any other tourists, even in cities like Midelt, Errachidia, Zagora and on the main roads betwen them. The places that once thrived with tourism to the point that I was absolutely avoiding them are mostly like ghost towns. Unbelievable. Eastern parts north of the Atlas seems to have more or less usual life and vibe, though.

Thanks for your update, much appreciated. How many days was the reservation you presented?

[vrecha]

How many days was the reservation you presented?

14 days. Nobody payed any real attention. Only one gendarme so far wanted to see "the autorisation paper" (that's how they call the print of the hotel reservation). He noticed the "expiration date" and asked me how long we intend to stay in Morocco. I'm quite open about this with officials, so as usual I said "few months, if possible." No problems with this.


Spoke yesterday with the keeper of the "camping" at Oued Noun. Always so packed I didn't bother stopping, now empty. He said we are the third foreigners he saw since March. Two before us were heading North when the Mauri border reopened.


Can't wait to see the spots around Dakhla.

[badou24]

Did you fly or drive to Maroc ?

[Tim Cullis]

Chinese lab CNBG SinoPharm (not be be confused with Sinovac) has filed for regulatory approval of one of the vaccines it has developed. Morocco was one of the countries participating in the SinoPharm third phase clinical trials and received the result of the Moroccan phase of the trials a couple of weeks ago.

EDIT: Much of what is written below (now coloured grey) was hot air and the vaccination programme never came to fruition in 2020. Will update further once more reliable information is available.

The government has now announced its vaccination campaign is due to start Friday 4 December using the SinoPharm and other vaccines. The plan is to vaccinate 80% of the adult Moroccan population—which would be 24 million people—and to complete the campaign by the end of February 2021.

Morocco's Ministry of the Interior will establish lists of beneficiaries for the first phase of vaccination and it is reported that this will include people over 65, pregnant women, those with chronic diseases, as well as key workers such as the medical, educational, public transport and law enforcement fields.

The initial vaccination target is 200,000 per day but this would have to be ramped up dramatically as two vaccinations are required per person, 21 days apart. To vaccinate 24 million people in 12 weeks would therefore involve over 500,000 vaccinations per day. More than 5,000 nurses and other trained people will carry out the vaccinations.

10 million doses of SinoPharm vaccine (enough for 5 million people) have already been airlifted to Morocco. Another 20 million doses are on order with AstraZeneca, and additional supplies are being secured from BioNtech, Sputnik and others.

______________________________

Morocco will start the manufacture, under licence, of the SinoPharm vaccine from a new biotechnology facility in Tanger. Morocco's Galenica Labs is also discussing manufacturing the Russian Sputnik V vaccine under licence for distribution throughout Africa.

For comparison purposes, assuming regulatory approval is quickly given and supplies are in place, the UK plan is to start vaccinations about a week behind the Moroccan date and to complete by mid April. EDIT: And yes, this may also prove to be optimistic.

.

[TheWarden]

With the ongoing lack of news about the Spain ferries resuming a new route from Marseille could help plug the gap in services.

https://www.bladi.net/liaison-mariti...31pVqNAYqYrQ0w

Moroccan government vote on Thursday regarding the SOE. Almost a certainty it will be extended for another month.

[TheWarden]

For those still with vehicles in Morocco, from the German Embassy

Information on German license plate vehicles left behind in Morocco as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic -
- The general extension of the 'Admission temporaire' for the vehicles that have remained in Morocco is currently running until 31.12.2020., knowing the embassy.
- The regional customs authority in Tangier has sent a letter to the honorary consul of the Federal Republic of Germany there, according to which an extension should be possible in individual cases for another 180 days in 2021 In order to do this, the vehicle does not have to be reinstalled in the meantime. For details, please contact the customs office responsible for your vehicle's location.
- Moroccan Customs also confirmed that a third person can collect a vehicle from a third person. This must be in possession of a legitimate power of attorney. Legalization takes place by a Moroccan authority (Moroccan embassy or consulate general in Germany); confirmation by a German authority is not sufficient.
- Before leaving, a permit must be obtained from the Moroccan Customs that a third person who has not entered the vehicle may export it from Morocco. The local customs authority is responsible for each of these matters, in whose area of responsibility you left your vehicle behind.
- There is currently no secured information as to whether this procedure works with a forwarder.


Still no news on the Spanish Ferries resuming or otherwise, seems odd given the ferries from France and Italy are running

[Tim Cullis]

From Wednesday 23 December 2020 at 2100, Morocco will enact new measures which will last for 3 weeks until 13 January.

1) Closure of all restaurants, cafes, shops and supermarkets at 8 pm

2) Night time curfew from 9 pm to 6 am.

3) Prohibition of public parties and gatherings.

4) Total closure of all restaurants in Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir and Tangier.

The situation in Morocco currently appears to be contained. New cases per day (rolling 7 day average) have steadily fallen from a peak of 5,200 in mid November to currently under 2,500. And fatalities have fallen from a high of 80 to under 50 per day. It seems these new measures by the authorities are proactive steps designed to prevent an upsurge over the New Year and to hopefully continue the downward trend.

Casablanca-Settat region continues to report the highest number of cases followed by Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and Tetouan-Tanger-Al Hoceima regions, with Marrakech-Safi some way down the list.

[TheWarden]

New UK FCO Advice published today re travel to Morocco.

The ban on flights from the UK to Morocco, also includes travel via a 3rd country (eg UK-France-Morocco). The advice hints (not states clearly) that this may also affect ferry travel and they advise to contact your airline or ferry company.

(It would be so helpful if the UK could give accurate advice, but based in the fiasco during lockdown thats clearly too much to expect )

[TheWarden]

Moroccan Customs have confirmed that the Temporary Import status of vehicles has been extended for a further 6 months due to the difficulties of international travel.

The article refers to an 'AT' card, this is the card issued by customs confirming the temporary import of a vehicle. It isn't clear how you obtain a replacement if you are not in country. Best bet is contact the Moroccan customs directly.

https://www.medias24.com/douane-pror...Ps--oiIYadjDFY

[levelo]

Best Wishes to all.

So I am debating whether to go or not.
I'd be flying to either Agadir or Marrakesh, from one of the French airports, on a French passport, with my (push)bike plus all my camping gear.
There are still routes/tracks I haven't explored east of the Anti-Atlas close to the Algerian border, and that would be a warmer way to get me through the winter. And, in my mind, a very safe way to await vaccination.
I have an unofficial base in Marrakesh at a friend's who works for the government.
I got him on the phone a couple of days ago.
Says that foreigners are given the green flag at checkpoints everywhere even though locals have troubles going from one region to the next.
I am well aware that the situation is in constant flux but can anyone confirm this ?

[TheWarden]

Vrecha is the only member here who has been in Morocco recently.

From my other contacts out there, it seems there are small numbers of europeans travelling without any big dramas at the moment. Out of the restricted areas travel is reported to be ok. A lot of the campsites etc will be glad to see some customers.

So far Morocco has avoided any further lockdowns, but the amount of testing has reduced so the exact state of the virus situation isn't completely clear. They are having a hard winter weather wise with -10 in Ifrane this week, but stunning scenery with the snow