COVID-19 - Morocco Master Thread

[Tim Cullis]

Well it wasn't obvious, so I made it obvious.

As for my other comments, one of the Moroccan news sites is now asking, "Le Maroc se dirige-t-il vers une fermeture totale des frontières?" (Is Morocco heading towards a total border closure?)

[Latetom]

This afternoon I was notified we could fly from Casablanca to Paris this coming Saturday. However, we are thinking we will fly Casablanca to Doha, Qatar. Arrive on 26 March in Marrakesh to find our 4Runner still in the International Airport parking lot -- 2 dead batteries after a year. Drove as far a Dakhla and then back up to Casablanca. Hope to put the 4Runner in a container in the next 48 hours to be shipped to Cape Town. Tough to find a place to eat in the middle of a pandemic and Ramadan. Morocco: what a great country to drive and explore!

[badou24]

I have just found some news.... 2020 was the hottest ever year !
wont be going there in summer !

[Tim Cullis]

The best indication on whether the borders will be reopened for tourism from Europe is the annual Operation Marhaba which is a coordinated ferry operation from Europe to Morocco to facilitate the transit of Moroccans living abroad to Morocco for their summer holidays.

This normally takes place mid-June to mid-September and some 3.3 million visitors and 760,000 vehicles participated in the 2019 operation. Last year's operation was cancelled due to the pandemic. There has been no official announcement regarding the 2021 operation although the Moroccan authorities have requested shipping companies to present their fleet plans, and preparations are being made at the Spanish ports of Algeciras and Tarifa for crossings to Tanger Med and Tanger Ville with more than 650,000 euros being spent on reception facilities.

Morocco seems to be trying to exert financial pressure on the exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and there might well be a stand-off about transit through Ceuta. From the Spanish perspective about 300,000 of the 760,000 vehicles in 2019 transited through Ceuta which earned the port more than 1.2 million euros.

[TheWarden]

Another month extension, as expected with Ramadan in progress.

Also confirmed are 2 cases of the Indian Variant.

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...ency-thursday/

[badou24]

I think morocco news is a good source of imformation , but there are some well known people on here who dont agree !!
some news must have a degree of truth in the report !!

[TheWarden]

Its not the best source, very tabloid in its approach at time, but with this news they've been pretty accurate so far.

Lets face it, the vaccination programme is progressing slightly slower than expected and its Ramadan, it was always going to be extended again imho.

What will be interesting is any news and border restrictions and Operation Marhaba for the summer

[Tim Cullis]

Hespress reckons some flights will resume mid-May, https://www.hespress.com/%D8%A7%D8%B...AF-817656.html

Hespress is a blogger-type operation and I have doubts over the truth of this as Lesiteinfo says the social media rumours are false.

[TheWarden]

The last week seems to have been particularly bad for unsubstantiated news and rumours.

One report saying the ferries wont resume until late May according to official government announcements yet there hasn't been anything official

Another thing I saw was a "roadmap" out of lockdown saying things started opening up yesterday, again no official announcement and obviously the roadmap overlooked the Ramadan issue.

Unfortunately a lot of the news souces aren't reliable in isolation buy with taking an overview from the main ones you can work out whats more accurate.

[TheWarden]

Spain confirms its borders with Morocco will remain closed until at least the end of May 2021.

Lot of politics between the 2 countries at the moment which isn't helping the situation. It hasn't been helped by Spain taking in the Polisario Leader, Brahim Ghali, for medical treatment. The summons of Ghali by the Spanish courts may go some way to ease tensions

https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/de...eres-avec.html

[Latetom]

Finally got out of Casablanca on 29 April. Caught a flight to Istanbul, toured next day, and caught a flight to Iceland on 1 May by way of Amsterdam. Almost missed flight out of Istanbul because gate person said we couldn't fly to Amsterdam. After sitting in the no fly area for an hour, showing 7 different requested info, we were finally allowed to board. Having a great time in Iceland. Hope to make it back to Morocco for another visit but not after 13 months of pandemic and Ramadan combined.

[TheWarden]

TVIPs extended until the end of the year.

https://fr.le360.ma/societe/douanes-...Pq3GeZONWcc71U

[barrier911]

We’re booked on to the Marseille-Tanger Med ferry on 10th June bringing a couple of adventure bikes for a tour of Morocco. So far it’s not been cancelled but I’d appreciate any information as to whether the ferries are currently running. Or if not then a best guess as to whether you think they may be by then. I seem to remember 10th of June being an important date.

[barrier911]

The Warden, can you give us some good news in your 1,000th post.

[TheWarden]

Originally Posted by barrier911

The Warden, can you give us some good news in your 1,000th post.

I sincerely wish I could.

Currently the SoE ends on the 10th June. The Maroc Gov will meet a decide on next steps the week before. The scientific advisory committee has recommended a gradual relaxation of the rule and the first change was last week with the reduction of the night time curfew. There was also vague rumour about other changes.

However at present there is nothing certain except in the next 2 weeks there will be an update on the situation. The diplomatic issues between Spain and Morocco at the moment wont help things.

My gut feeling is we will see another extension or the SoE until July. We may see some change to border restrictions based on vaccination progress, Europe opening up and the summer return of Moroccans resident in Europe. I wouldn't count on getting in too soon myself but hope to be proved wrong.