COVID-19 - Morocco Master Thread

[Tim Cullis]

Mauritanian border now open for tourists according to a Mauritanian contact of Noureddine from Loc2roues.

"Mauritania opens the road today ... this Tuesday morning. The border opened to let tourists pass. Towards the Mauritanian desert and Sub-Saharan Africa. And this measure taken by the Moroccan authorities deprived them of certain compelling profits. We Mauritanian guides our administrators will work hard to make your dreams coincide"

[TheWarden]

The people who crossed into Mauritania last night had exceptional permission after some had camped on the border for over 20 days. A good number of the group are members of Overlanding West Africa and Morocco, and confirmed their crossing on Facebook last night as follows.

"We passed to Mauritania.
Exceptional title and for our small group of 10 cars including the Senegalese.
Officially, the Moroccan border is still closed to tourists ������"

There is an expectation that the Dresden to Banjul banger rally might cross today.

There has been no official announcement yet by the Moroccans that it will open for tourists

[TheWarden]

First announcement from Morocco on the Mauritanian border.

https://fr.le360.ma/societe/le-poste...kMbTxkNFhIF_Mk

[rydz]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

First announcement from Morocco on the Mauritanian border.

https://fr.le360.ma/societe/le-poste...kMbTxkNFhIF_Mk

Its a start,and thats a good thing!

[levelo]

Originally Posted by Tim Cullis

I'm not claiming insider knowledge, but other than Morocco joining the list of counties peed off with M. Macron (grin) there's no good reason for this to happen.

Case numbers in France have climbed 70% in the last 30 days but are only around 700 for the last seven days per million population. Of the 27 EU countries only five are lower, the highest is almost 10,000 (and the UK is 3,500).

Which countries peed off with Macron do you have in mind ?

It is difficult to completely severe air ties between France and Morocco indeed but it's already happened.
And not everything is Covid-related in the relationship. The political situation between the 2 countries has been pretty tense for some weeks for a number of reasons ( as is the case with Spain ).

[Tim Cullis]

New restrictions for list 'B' arrivals

For people coming from a list B country (including France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands...) in addition to the compulsory health pass and the negative PCR of less than 48 hours, a twofold control will be carried out on arrival, using thermal cameras and electronic thermometers as well as antigenic tests.

Medical teams will be deployed at each port and airport. Any passenger who tests positive will not be allowed to enter Morocco and will have to return to the country of embarkation at the expense of the air or sea transport company, except for passengers with a permanent residence in Morocco.

[levelo]

I landed at Menara airport yesterday afternoon.
Great flight with clear views right above the Strait of Gibraltar. I even clearly saw Casablanca's Great Mosque.
My documents ( proof of vax + PCR, in printed format ) were briefly checked upon arrival, but NOT scanned. Immigration makes you fill in a form with health-related questions. Nothing more.
The airport was very quiet. So is Marrakesh.
Feels so good to be back. Temps are simply perfect.
Masks are still supposed to be compulsory but no one's wearing them.
Leaving for the mountains tomorrow. It hasn't rained nor snowed yet,the countryside is at its driest.
L.

[Tim Cullis]

Thanks for the report and I hope you have a great time. There's actually been snow in a few places in the mountains this last week, mostly above 2000m

[TheWarden]

Morocco has updated the requirements for entry into the country.

List A and B revised. Spain, UK, Netherlands and Germany removed from List B. But only Spain has been added to List A.

The other countries area mystery at the moment, not appearing on either list.

The big concern is this update REMOVES any mention of Unvaccinated travellers.

I expect we will see a lot of discussion about these changes while we understand what this update means particularly for Unvaccinated travellers.

https://www.medias24.com/2021/11/17/...tree-au-maroc/

[TheWarden]

The official List B still shows the UK and Germany so the article may not be completely accurate

[Tim Cullis]

Spain, Germany and the UK were removed from the B list and added to the new A list which was widely circulated on social media, now Germany and the UK have been removed from A list and put back onto the B list.

The net result is that Spain has been moved from the B list to the A list. France is still on the B list.

Effective immediately, all travellers to Morocco must be fully vaccinated. Travellers from 'A' list countries do not need a PCR test, from 'B' list countries they require a PCR test within 48 hours of boarding.

Antigen tests will be carried out on arrival (maybe only B list?). Moroccan citizens and foreigners resident in Morocco found positive will have to undergo ten days quarantine, all other passengers will be refused entry to Morocco.

Health ministry: https://www.sante.gov.ma/pages/actua...spx?idactu=434

[Tim Cullis]

The implication from previous notifications was that all incoming passengers (or maybe all incoming passengers from 'B' list countries) would be subject to lateral flow tests.

Morocco's National Airports Authority has clarified the situation stating that all passengers will be subject to 'double temperature control, systematic' (thermal cameras and electronic thermometers) and that some passengers will be subject to 'random control by rapid antigenic test'.
https://www.onda.ma/en/I-am-passenge...er-information

There have been some reports of hotel staff colluding with those who are supposed to be undergoing quarantine and not strictly enforcing the rules, this may be behind the decision to no longer allow entry to unvaccinated non-resident/citizens.

_______________________

The government's plan to increase vaccine takeup by only allowing vaccinated citizens access to shops, cafes, etc. seems to have backfired. Refusal from the establishments concerned to check passes plus the relaxation of general restrictions means the vaccine pass is not required for the majority of people and there has been a pushback from people who are being influenced by social media feeds and feel the government has been coercive. Consequently vaccine figures have declined again to less than 230,000 doses last week.

Hespress article on vaccine takeup: https://en.hespress.com/30328-heres-...accinated.html

[TheWarden]

Where were the List A pdfs published showing UK etc on it?

As the news broke last night several sites published a version of the Lists without the UK on and then the health ministry published a revised list shortly after showing them still on List B

[hav]

Unfortunate that Netherlands isn't listed anywhere.

Just to be clear, it's the last transit airport that counts, not the originating country, correct? So a Norwegian transiting through Brussels gets in without a test, but that same person transiting through Heathrow must have a test?

[Tim Cullis]

Netherlands is on list 'B' as Pays-Bas.

Transit passengers whose luggage is checked through to final destination, or only have hand luggage, don't need to go through passport control to collect their luggage and so don't technically enter the transit country.