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The EU's removal of Morocco from its list is only advisory and its up to member states to make their own decisions.
It also has no effect on EU Citizens and family members leaving Morocco for the EU or holders of residency in the EU according to L’Economiste. Yesterday a new decree was passed to speed up the process of fines for non compliance with wearing of facemasks etc. Thursday saw the redeployment of the Army in Tangier to help enforce lock down measures. Its a certainty that post Eid will see increased numbers of cases, not helped by the mass exodus from the 8 cities which were placed back into lockdown a couple of weeks ago. Special Flights and Ferries remain in service but what will happen after Monday is still uncertain. |
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Individual EU counties have the ability (as Spain has consistently demonstrated) not to allow travellers from countries deemed safe by the EU, but this decision was, after all, taken by a meeting of EU ambassadors, not the faceless EU bureaucratic machine and I don't believe individual countries have the ability to allow travellers from countries deemed unsafe. Otherwise, potentially infected individuals would be able to enter the Schengen zone through the loophole and then travel where they like, unhindered. |
The EU's list is only guideline, not mandatory, made the same way as the previous list that Spain chose not to follow
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-he...-idUKKCN2532PP |
"The list serves as a guideline rather than a rule for the EU’s 27 members, with the idea that no EU country would open its borders to countries not on the list."
So it isn't backed by legislation, but the net effect as far as Morocco is concerned is the same; EU countries are expected to abide by it and are highly unlikely to allow other than carefully controlled repatriation flights from Morocco. |
Anybody here also have a bike stranded in Morocco ? I've managed to catch a flight back in March but my bike is still stuck in Merzouga.
If it opens between October and December then I'm game for a ride down South into the desert (which was the plan to start with). Laurent |
foreigners can enter
Just got a message from someone telling me Morocco is open.
Seem's like he's right, at least for fly-ins. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...enter-morocco/ |
Heard about it earlier but it was said to be business travellers with an invite on a Moroccan company letterhead.
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Tourists now as well. :thumbup1: |
Its still very limited. Only via the special flights operated by RAM, Air France and Air Arabia, for people who don't need a visa and only with negative COVID tests dated within 48 hours of departure.
Its not clear what a "Hotel Reservation" means, eg does an AirBnB booking count or is it just hotels, whether once there you can stay in several hotels or just one. There are also a lot of regional travel restrictions in place needing permits from the Moroccan authorities to move about in country, from today travel in and out of Mrirt and Khenifra is prohibited. I wouldn't rush to book just at the moment but it gives scope for those with vehicles still in country to retrieve them, if you're prepared for it not being straight forward and either returning via Sete or Genoa or waiting for a place on a Spanish Repat ferry |
I also read the 'business travellers' as something else (another MWN article, in fact).
I am told this morning by the rental place I work with: Effectively the govt has opened frontiers to tourists (with special flights) but Casa had gone back to lockdown. The situation is tricky but we are on the right path. It's said they decide on the SoE extension on Wednesday 9th, and with current rises and lockdowns, some expect it to remain. |
Looking at the last few months and the increasing numbers of cases, I think its a certainty the SoE will be extended again. The lockdowns in Casa, Mrirt etc in the last few days need to powers of the SoE to be implemented.
I think the best outcome this week is some news on the borders closures. Moroccan tourist businesses are getting some support through to December but if they don't start thinking about the border and 2021 soon they'll have a bad spring season for Tourism imho. Both travellers and the tourist businesses need some info to plan for the future |
I've come across a formal government communication referring to a decision on 4 September that confirms the basic arrangements and asks that the news is communicated to external bodies. Letter in French: http://www.morocco-knowledgebase.net/tim/cs4135.jpg
But this doesn't answer any of the questions posed above by TheWarden. The Covid tests required by RAM within 48 hours of flying will be impossible to obtain in many countries. A spokesperson for CNT (representing the whole of the tourism sector) is quoted as saying, "Our first foreign market remains France, which has recently offered a free test, the deadlines for results have increased with the explosion in demand, from 48 hours to 5 days. In other words, French tourists wishing to come to Morocco will not be able to present results, within the valid deadline, to the Moroccan authorities who ask for a maximum of 48 hours. So, in practice, if this opening of borders to foreigners with reservations is done without explanations, it will not be of much use because it will have no real impact on tourism and hotel activity in Morocco." There's a government meeting today to discuss a draft decree extending the state of emergency past 10 September. In the meantime, Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb expressed concern over the weekend that Morocco risks being overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases, saying "drastic measures are necessary, otherwise the situation may get out of control in the days to come". In addition, there's a worrying report from Morocco World News expressing concern at the capability of the hospitals and testing centres to handle the number of new cases, see https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...ng-in-morocco/ |
SOE extended until the 10th October as expected
French friends resident in Morocco and recently returned had no issues with obtaining tests for their flight. A couple of other contacts are flying out soon to retrieve vehicle left behind earlier in the year. It'll be interesting to see how they get on. |
Yes it will.
Flying out on 'special' RAM flights or EazyJet cheapies? |
RAM,
Easyjet don't have permission to fly, only RAM, Air Arabia, Air France and Trasavia at the moment. News from some one who flew in yesterday was a temp check and show booking details on arrival but nobody checked for a return plane ticket |
Friend flew Paris - Casa - Dakhla 2 days ago to retrieve his vehicle, all seems to be going ok so far
"flew florence paris casablanca, no problem at all. The only thing is they need to see your covid report in europe before they let you on board. Once in Casablanca easy as usual. Passport control with a little registration of your hotel booking in a small office. Takes two minutes. People told me, it is better to have a confirmed booking for your whole stay in Marocco, even if you continue by car. Am sitting at the gate for Dakhla, boarding in 5 minutes. Nobody even asked me why I am going there. Casa airport is deserted... flights not even half full" He also confirmed Mauri borders are still closed, there had been some rumours circulating that they were open again. |
My experience returning to Morocco.
Getting the covid testing and flights aligned to comply with the 48hr window was a little stressy but if worked out fine. Tests returned within 30hrs. Fly with RAM. No hassle at Heathrow or Casablanca. They checked the tests and hotel reservation. But didn't really scrutinise them. Flight maybe 40% capacity. Taxi picked me up as arranged and took me to around 15min North of Marrakech. A few police check points but we were waved through. No flights available from Casablanca to Marrakech. Now chilling by the pool for a couple days and the (hopefully) ferry from Tangier to Genoa. I'll let you know how that goes. |
No issues traveling from Marrakech to Tangier Med. I was waved through any police check points.
For the first 3hrs it felt like I was driving on square tyres though:-) Tangier Med was rammed, even though I was 7hrs early. So usual chaos, but no big deal. No questions asked about my expired temporary import. It ran out in August. The GNV ferry is okay. The snack bar and restaurant are open. Just arriving in Genoa now. |
Back home (southern Italy).
Once I'd got off the boat in Genoa I was literally on the road in 5 minutes. Zero hassle. Before you get on the boat Italian guys and dogs seemed to search every vehicle. So I guess that's why it was so easy in Genoa. A 6500 mile round trip:-) as I returned to the UK first |
I guess most know already, but the SoE was extended until the 10/11/20 yesterday.
PCR test now is required to be within 72hours rather than then previous 48hours No more news on borders but rumours that the latest option for tourists with a hotel booking is posssible via ferry. At present I've not heard of anyone succesfully entering morocco as a tourist via ferry |
France refuse to allow ferry to dock in Sete due to Coronavirus case (odd as everyone on board had to present a negative test)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...VN9vQPCuxne9tg Useful info from Visit Morocco/Moroccan National Tourist Office on entry requirements (no mention of being able to use ferries with a hotel booking) https://www.visitmorocco.com/en/info...6xzAm211QMAQ90 Lastly, Ryanair seem to have been added to the list of approved airlines |
Eventually all passengers were allowed to disembark.
It was rumored that some crew members were tested positive, hence the delay. |
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More problems with the Sete authorities and ferries over the weekend
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/tran...vl1VDB5k5E_bDE |
Moroccan Government have approved a draft Decree extending the State of Emergency until the 10th of December.
El Othmani, Morocco's Head of Government has also not ruled out a return to full lockdown, much as we have seen across Europe if conditions in Morocco require it. This followed a number of fake Government documents circulating on line claiming to prove that a new lock down was coming in a matter of days. GNV Ferries to Sete have been suspended until December and the service to Genoa appears reduced (although I'm not certain on this). Several press reports circulation of tourists trapped again with the stoppage on the ferries. Not surprising if you've been keeping up on the local situation and the latest UK FCO advice was updated a while back stating not to rely on the ferry services. Spain and Morocco continue to have a bit of a political squabble, current over fuel for HGVs. But possible something that further delays the resumption of regular ferry services between the 2 countries. |
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Does this implicate that tourists are allowed to enter Morocco via (say, Genoa-Tang) ferry? :blink: |
They can enter with a negative PCR test within 72hours of arrival and a hotel reservation.
A few people I know of have done this, but the ferry situation seems to be a risk if you wnat to get out again. Theres no way south to Mauritania at the moment and the border is blockaded by the Polisario for the last week or so. Spain a still running special ferries back to Algeciras available via the Embassy at the moment but again this could stop at anytime. |
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). :D |
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?
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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 |
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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. |
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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. |
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. Quote:
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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. :eek3: |
Did you fly or drive to Maroc ?:eek3::eek3:
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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. . |
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. |
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 |
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. |
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 expectdoh ) |
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 |
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 ? |
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 |
As TheWarden said.
Entered Morocco mid November, intending to stay until March or April, will see. Can't comment on touristic infrastructure as we are self-sufficient in this regard. As usual, we just skipped through Morroco and are now (again :-) ) exploring the inland of Western Sahara. When we were still on the roads in the North, we were just waved through in most checkpoints, no real control. We have always "a hotel reservation" with us, just a printed forum from booking.com. We keep booking and canceling hotels in our general direction, but as said, so far nobody required to produce this (ok, except when entering, on the border). Otherwise, everything is very relaxed. Hope it helps. |
Thanks TheWarden and Vrecha, it does help.
Provided I can fly ( another strict lockdown here in France could prevent me from getting to the nearest airport :-( ) it seems doable then. I am shooting for February + March. |
I'lll be very jealous if you make it!.
Morocco's just extended the SoE for another month to the 10th of Feb but no real change execpt they are tightening up on the issuing of Exception Travel Permits for the regions under tighter restrictions |
Hey TheWarden,
What do you mean by ' the issuing of exception travel permits ' in ' regions under tighter restrictions ' ? I was under the impression that tourists could travel nationwide without restrictions at all save for the compulsory hotel booking to get into the country. The only restrictions I am aware of being cafés and restaurants being closed in major cities. L. |
Casablanca is under tighter restrictions with some other cities. Officially you need a permit for travel in them. Foreigners seem to get away with just a hotel booking and a smile though. A news article today suggested that they are clamping down on how these permits are being issued and used. I suspect it will effect the moroccans more than the small number of tourists.
Even when I was there just after the lockdown a lot of the checkpoints just waved me through and you needed to a permit then to travel anywhere officially |
Agadir for instance is still supposed to be under ' strict ' lockdown, like other main cities in the country.
Can one ( foreign tourist or Moroccan citizen ) go out ? Travel to other cities ? All I know is that restaurants, cafés and beaches are closed. |
After many false dawns, Morocco's vaccination campaign looks like it will be starting next week. A posting from the Royal Armed Forces website announces,
"Royal Airlines's 787 Dreamliner Aircraft will be heading on a special flight from Mohamed V airport to Mumbai International Airport today, targeting the flight according to sources of the Var-Maroc Forum, bringing the first doses of Covid vaccine. AT3884: CMN Thursday going at 15:25. Access BOM on capacity Friday 00:30 (local time, already landed) AT3085: BOM going at Friday 02:30. Arriving CMN Friday at 13:40" I've checked Flightradar24 but can't see the plane under either AT3085 or RAM3085. Another source quoted AT3883. But fingers crossed nevertheless. UPDATED UPDATE: Multiple sources state the plane is kitted out with refrigerated containers and is carrying two million doses. The return flight passed over Cairo at about 0830 GMT Friday morning, you can track its progress at https://www.flightradar24.com/data/f...t3085#26a26d01 |
The authorities have now approved the SinoPharm vaccine for deployment in Morocco and the first delivery is expected Wednesday 27 Jan.
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SoE extended until the 10th March 2021, bringing upto pretty much 12 months since flights were stopped, ports and borders closed.
No further news on the ban on entry for UK citizens and other red list countries. Rumour is this will be reviewed soon |
GNV ferry from Genova to Tangier is suspended until at least on February the 25th.
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Along with the Sete and Marseille ferries.
Only ferry option now is the once a week ferry from Morocco to Spain organised by the spanish embassy |
An update on the vaccination progress.....
HM King Mohamed VI inaugurated Morocco's vaccination campaign on Thursday 28 January by receiving the first non-clinical trial vaccination in Morocco and chose to take the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. The first phase of the campaign will cover people on the frontline in the COVID-19 fight, including doctors, security services, teachers, those in the high-risk categories and citizens over 75 years of age. Morocco plans to vaccinate 30 million people—80% of the Moroccan population—and has ordered 66 million doses of vaccine. To date it has received two million Astrazeneca doses from Serum in India, and half a million Sinopharm doses from China. A further 4.5 million Astrazeneca doses are expected to arrive 13 February, with another 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine on 16 February. Further supplies are expected in February, March and April. Other doses are expected from Covax (which the UK donated £758 million to) but these are expected later. Morocco is currently following a two-shot short-gap procedure with 21 days between Sinopharm doses and 28 days between Astrazeneca doses. Progress to date has shown 90,000 vaccinations carried out by 29 Jan, 257,000 by 1 Feb, 352,000 by 3 Feb and 464,000 by 5 Feb. On a per-capita basis this is almost twice the rate achieved by the UK in the first four weeks of its campaign. The UN Mission in Western Sahara has reported that Morocco is making 20,000 doses available to the Sahrawis detained in the Tindouf camps in Algeria. The delivery of the vaccine will be overseen by MINURSO, the UN agency. |
The second shipments of vaccines arrived on schedule and the campaign has stepped up a gear with more than 2.35m first dose vaccinations given in the last three weeks. This represents 6% of the population which on par or above that which France and Spain have achieved in nearly 7 weeks, see graph below.
http://www.morocco-knowledgebase.net/tim/ma-fr-es.png The campaign started giving second doses last Friday with 13,476 on the first day. 5 million additional AZ doses are expected in March, then another 20 million in April. Morocco is also negotiating with Sinopharm for a larger delivery in its April shipment to further increase the rate of vaccination. Discussions are additionally happening regarding approval of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine. In the meantime, the pandemic statistics within Morocco continue to drop. Rolling 7-day average new cases reached a peak in mid November of 5,206 per day and have dropped now to 402. Deaths peaked late November at 80 per day and have now fallen to 13. To put the latest figures into perspective, the UK with approximately 80% higher population than Morocco is running at 10,406 daily cases and 494 deaths. Adjusted for population size the current UK death rate is over 20 times that of Morocco. (It might be argued that Morocco with less than 6 million tests carried out to date isn't detecting all the cases.) |
More relevant to travel, theres a possibility the France and Italy ferry routes will resume early March.
https://www.bladi.net/traversees-mar...QQyC-TkZPX1Z1o As yet no news on the ban on UK passport holders being lifted |
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Bet they open the borders in the summer , when its too hot !!:rain::rain: |
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In the last 24 hours Morocco has banned flights from Germany, Netherlands, Turket and Switzerland due to the new variants. (Ok not really overland related but might help some) This article was posted in an overlanding group today regarding the Spain Ferry links. https://www.espace-mre.com/post/maro...SCIOOzgvfbWtNQ Number of things with this story - first I've not seen it reported in the normal news channels or social media groups. Secondly it talks about the 72hr PCR test but also states that a 2nd test will be required while onboard the ferry. I can't see how they can process a PCR test for everyone on board in the 90 minutes the ferry takes to get from Algeciras to Tanger |
Flights with Belgium and Italy also suspended.
The respective embassies have confirmed that flights are suspended with Belgium and Italy from 00:01 on Tuesday 2 March. The reason is supposed to be due to variants but that then begs the question why flights with France are still operational? According to GNV, ferries that should originally start operating on 5 March will be postponed to 15 March. Morocco's Foreign Ministry has broken off all contact with the German embassy in Rabat, https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...assy-in-rabat/ |
As far as I know there are still flights operated out of French airports.
BUT French citizens have been barred from leaving the EU on leisure trips since late January. Only people on business or on emergency family-related trips can do so. I had decided to go in early February but I couldn't :( |
SoE extended until the 10th April, neatly bringing it to over 12 months.
Almost certain to be extended again through to May to cover Ramadan this year |
Improvement works being carried out on both the Spanish and Moroccan sides of the border at Ceuta/Fnediq are be optimistically read by locals as an indication that the crossing could be reopened after being closed for more than a year.
Report: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/202...order-opening/ |
Good news then ?
moroocon news reported this a few days ago . must be true then ! |
I have just seen a report that says there will be no new covid cases in Maroc by 11th of March ,
If that is the case we may see some light at the end of the tunnel . and maby they will open the borders soon , but the bad news is there are over700,000 people are out of work , so there may be a spike in crime in the cities K |
Reported case numbers are low and recoveries are higher in number than new cases. But I don't think we'll see much change in the border situation until their vaccination programme is more progressed.
Ramadan starts in a few weeks and could easily see a rise in cases, although I think lessons were learnt last year. At present 20 countries are barred from entry to Morocco, weirdly the bans include New Zealand and Australia which are pretty safe while France and the US are not included on the list yet |
Do you know which nationalities are currently on the black list ?
Or does it work with countries where the flight originates ? I was thinking of maybe flying to Spain first ( I think I'd be allowed to fly to Madrid on my French passport), then off to Morocco... My friend in Marrakesh says that it is business as usual during the day ( a 9 pm curfew is still in place ) : he's able to hit the slopes every weekend, be it for hiking or skiing. Damn ! |
Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, New Zealand, UK, Denmark, and South Africa.
Transit through a 3rd country isn't possible if your travelling on a passport from a banned country |
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I think it is going to take another year before this pandemic recedes sufficiently that it is no longer a "top of mind" issue for everyone. Having said that, though, I suspect that countries that are heavily dependent on tourism will soon (within the next 4 to 8 weeks) implement some sort of policy that admits visitors who have been fully vaccinated, regardless of what the state of infections or vaccinations are in their country. Michael |
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As of a few days ago Morocco had 8 million doses and is following a 3-4 week gap between first and second doses, so couldn't exceed 4 million first doses unless fresh supplies were guaranteed. It's currently administered 3.9m first doses but should be getting a third tranche of Sinopharm doses this weekend. Germany is reported to be following the UK lead in stretching the gap between doses so that as many people as possible can be vaccinated, if Morocco also did that it would enable an even faster roll out. |
Back in November 2020 the rolling average of new detected cases within Morocco was running at over 5,200 per day. Since then it has dropped slowly but steadily, reaching a low of 350 on 2 March. In the last 14 days, however, the trajectory of new detected cases has shown a slight uplift to 398 cases per day which is an average rise of just under 1% per day.
Moving from a slow decrease of cases to a slow increase is alarming and, fearing the spread of variants, the government has extended the flight suspensions to 10 April and added another 12 countries to the list which now comprises: EUROPE: UK, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Czechia, Poland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Turkey, Ukraine AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Cameroon ASIA: Lebanon, Kuwait SOUTH AMERICA: Brazil, Argentina OCEANIA: Australia, New Zealand The holy month of Ramadan is only a month away, and the vastly increased family gatherings around Eid will be causing some concern. At the moment the country is subject to a night curfew from 9pm until 6am, with businesses have to close at 8pm. This has just been extended until 31 March. During Ramadan cafes and restaurants will normally close during the day and there is growing pressure to lift the curfew to allow them to trade in the evenings. Unless extremely firm action is taken it looks inevitable that new cases will rise and only start to decline again from late May/early June. Given the above it is difficult to try to predict when Morocco will relax the restrictions on tourist air flights and ferries. The bright light on the horizon is Morocco’s vaccination campaign. Morocco has done fantastically well and has been lauded internationally for its achievement. However vaccine supplies are running low, with the Chinese Sinopharm company not meeting anticipated deliveries. 500,000 doses were delivered early March making 1.5m to date, however this is against a total order of 45m. It is particularly galling as Morocco was a key participant in the Sinopharm clinical trials. Morocco has approved two additional vaccines, Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccines, for use within the Kingdom. 1 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine have been ordered and it is expected half will be delivered in March, half in April. It appears unlikely Morocco will receive any Janssen vaccines before mid to late 2021. A further 1.2m Astrazeneca doses are to be delivered through the COVAX initiative, but no date has been announced. To date Morocco has received 8.5m doses of all vaccines, enough to provide first and second doses to 4.25m people. In the last eleven days the focus has switched from administering first doses to providing second doses for all those vaccinated earlier. HM King Mohammed VI was one of those given a second dose of vaccine. Morocco has now administered 4,236,386 first doses and has supplies for only ONE more day at current rates. 1,960,996 second doses have been given but the overall rate of vaccinations will have to drop in order to maintain the 3-4 week gap from first doses. Hopefully additional supplies will arrive soon, insha'Allah. |
Flight restrictions currently timed in line with the SoE dates (10th April) but the SoE will certainly be extended to cover Ramadan entirely
You can still visit as a tourist if your not travelling on a passport from one of the 32 Red List countries, providing you have a negative PCR and hotel booking. GNV ferries currently list ferries from Genoa resuming from April, although they have a significant track record over the last year of selling tickets for ferries that didnt run, so a degree of caution is needed if your tempted to book. Some very obvious political and non scientific decisions in play with the red list countries (Algeria blocked, France and US not blocked despite large case numbers and the emerging new strain in Brittany) The ban on Australia and New Zealand doesn't seem to fit with any political or scientific reasoning! (News today saying Vaccinated Isrealis are allowed in) |
France and Spain added to banned list.
Current list of Countries barred from entry into Morocco due to coronavirus: - Argentina - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Botswana - Cameroon - Croatia - Mozambique - Italy - Belgium - Turkey - Switzerland - Germany - The Netherlands - Austria - Portugal - Sweden - Ukraine - The Czech Republic - Australia - Ireland - New Zealand - South Africa - Denmark - The United Kingdom - Brasil - Algeria - Egypt - Poland - Norway - Finland - Greece - Lebanon - Kuwait - Mali, - Ghana - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - Guinea-Conakry - Libya - France - Spain Still no ferries are running between Morocco, Spain, France or Italy. GNV Ferries website currently shows ferries available in April between Italy and Morocco. The border with Mauritania remains closed to tourists. |
The nationwide curfew (9pm to 6am) has been extended by two weeks from 30 March, taking the restrictions into the beginning of Ramadan.
With the high demand for vaccines, nothing is certain until new supplies actually arrive, but an official of the scientific committee of the Ministry of Health says Morocco expects to receive in the coming days 1 million doses of Sputnik V, 2 million doses of Sinopharm and 1.2m doses of Astrazeneca through the Covax programme (manufactured in South Korea by SK Bioscience). Any one of those shipments would enable Morocco to resume administering first doses which had slowed to a dribble and then officially ceased today. Second doses are continuing with a current gap of 31 days since the first dose was administered. |
40 cases of the UK variant in Dakhla so they are instigating a 3 day lockdown.
To add to the madness anyone one on flights between Spain/France and Morocco today is exempt from needing PCR testdoh |
As expected SoE extended to the 10th May
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Ferry Information
Thanks to everyone keeping the information up to date.
I’m booked on the Marseille to TMed ferry on the 12th of May bringing a few French bikes for a tour. It’s looking unlikely at present but where is the best place to find information of whether the ferries are actually running? |
In all honesty, I'd keep watching here. 12th of May is pretty much the end of Ramadan, I don't expect much will change until June when the Moroccans working in Europe want o go home for the summer.
The ferry companies will sell you a ticket even if the ferry is unlikely to run. The key issue is Morocco's list of banned countries, us Brits have been banned since December and no news of when that might change |
7000 French and Spanish nationals are being evacuated from Morocco.
Covid-19: France and Spain evacuate their citizens from Morocco | The North Africa Journal Edit: as a response to Morocco shutting down flights in view of rising numbers of positive covid tests. |
Spain have been running evac ferries since last May, I think the last one was number 60, they've been running weekly for a while now.
French friends on a ferry to Marseilles tonight. |
Latest list of Countries barred from entry into Morocco due to coronavirus:
- Argentina - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Botswana - Cameroon - Croatia - Mozambique - Italy - Belgium - Turkey - Switzerland - Germany - The Netherlands - Austria - Portugal - Sweden - Ukraine - The Czech Republic - Australia - Ireland - New Zealand - South Africa - Denmark - The United Kingdom - Brasil - Algeria - Egypt - Poland - Norway - Finland - Greece - Lebanon - Kuwait - Mali, - Ghana - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - Guinea-Conakry - Libya - France - Spain - Tunisia - Albania - Hungary - Bulgaria - Luxembourg - Serbia - Romania - Slovakia - Cyprus - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Malta, - Slovenia. |
Thats a lot of countries !
Lets hope things get better later in the year for us all ! |
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New Zealand is the poster child of the world for control of COVID, and they are on the list. Infections are going out of control here in Canada, yet we are not on the list. I don't understand the rationale of whomever in Morocco drew up that list. |
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and why isn't it in alphabetical order?:Beach: |
There is a very interesting scholarly article about citizen perceptions of the Moroccan government's response to the COVID pandemic at this link - I think it would make for interesting and educational reading for anyone planning to go to Morocco when things eventually open up:
Finding the Balance: Public Health and Social Measures in Morocco It is notable that Moroccan citizens have had registered the most favourable public response to availability of vaccines of all the Arab / North African countries, with 88% of citizens satisfied with their government's handling of the crisis, and 91% of citizens willing to be vaccinated. In many middle east countries, citizen satisfaction with government response and citizen willingness to be vaccinated is below 50%. |
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My statistic on the subject shows quite different results, I suppose this means that my way of random sampling is considerably biased ... or ... :eek3: |
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If there are many more suspensions it will be easier to list destinations you CAN fly to (and which also have regular flights). As far as Royal Air Maroc is concerned, the main destinations still operational seem to be New York, Washington, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Moscow, Beijing and several destinations in Africa. The real problem is not that flights aren't operating, but that flights currently operating (e.g. USA, Canada) could potentially be suspended with practically no notice, leaving visitors stranded. |
All EU States are on the list I posted above :rolleyes2:
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Well it wasn't obvious, so I made it obvious. :rolleyes2: :rolleyes2:
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?) |
Getting out of Morocco
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!
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I have just found some news.... 2020 was the hottest ever year !
wont be going there in summer ! |
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. |
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/ |
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 !!:eek3: |
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 |
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. |
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. |
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 |
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