I wouldn't dream of criticising any of the Moroccan decisions, the authorities have consistently acted quickly and decisively. I think case numbers in Morocco are as accurate as anywhere else (i.e. probably less than half the reality) as the percentage of positive tests in Morocco has been healthily low.

In the last seven days the UK has recorded 158.3 daily cases per 100k population which is roughly twice the USA with 74.1 (Canada 52.1). It's estimated two million people in the UK are infected with covid right now, with one person in ten in London.

Deaths are the ultimate measure, and yet the UK daily death rate of 0.15/100k is less than half that of the USA with 0.34, despite the UK having more than twice the cases. The death rate for Canada is even lower at 0.04.

Closing the borders only really gave Morocco a week or two breather, and case numbers are now climbing steeply. A month ago there were 84 Covid cases, yesterday there were 1,184. Currently there are 76 confirmed cases of Omicron with another 276 suspected cases and it seems likely Omicron will sweep through Morocco, but hopefully with low virulence. The authorities predict the peak will come in the week 17-23 January.

Despite the flight suspensions, according to an article in Bladi.net, the authorities have authorised the landing of private jets for a mega wedding party involving hundreds of participants to take place on 2-3 January at the Agafay 'badlands', a largely wasteland area 30 km to the west of Marrakech. Hundreds of police and gendarmes will be supervising the event and also ensuring safety, whilst in recent days the roads leading to the area have been 'rehabilitated'

Private jets have been allowed in for some time. I talked with someone who arrived via private plane a few weeks ago. As ever, money talks and the Moroccan gov certainly likes pampering to the Americans and Israeli's.

Probably more important to members here. is that the UK embassy has stated it will not arrange repatriation for UK nationals. The are also stopping the Consular Warden service in the New Year.

(TBH, those vehicle based travellers who dealt with the embassy, the staff and the wardens during the first lock down didnt have a particularly good experience)

Almost 4,300 new Covid cases were reported in Morocco today with the rolling seven day average at just over 2,050, more than double the figure five days ago.

Throughout the pandemic the central coastal towns and cities from Kenitra in the north, through Salé, Rabat, Mohammedia, Casablanca and as far south as El Jadida, have been the most severely affected and if anything this trend has become more evident with the littoral recording 86% of today's cases. By comparison the next most severely affected area is Marrakech-Safi region with just 7%.

Testing has been ramped up, however the fact that 19% of all tests throughout Morocco are reporting positive results implies the testing isn't sufficient to record a meaningful figure (WHO's guideline is to increase testing if positives are 5% or more). The reality is that between 50 and 60% of all tests carried out in Casablanca-Rabat regions are positive (and for Omicron), whilst most of the other regions around the country (e.g. Draâ-Tafilalet and Oriental) show very low infection rates and may well still be mainly Delta. Almost all the 38 hospital admissions reported today were in Casablanca which is warning of being overwhelmed, https://www.bladi.net/omicron-casabl...ifs,89378.html

As noted above, the numbers of serious cases being ventilated might provide the clearest indication of the seriousness of the situation. Last August the numbers being ventilated with pressurised face masks peaked at 1,400 with a further 80 being intubated with a tube down the throat. The numbers fell back to 650/40 in September, 300/20 in October, 84/5 in November and 73/2 in December. Two days ago they reached a low of 52/6 and it's likely that all of these, or almost all, are residual Delta cases.

Whilst the increase in case numbers appears alarming these are comparatively light compared to the one million cases recorded last week in France and UK, and Morocco appears to be three weeks behind the curve of these countries. To end on a positive note, new infections in London may have plateaued, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...rwhelming-nhs/ which gives an indication this may be a massively sharp but comparatively short wave for Morocco.

Thanks Tim for such an informative post. Managed to get my booster jab today in Sidi Ifni

Fyi if anyone else is in Morocco and wants to go over to Maruitania. We heard many conflicting stories regarding the land border whether it was open or closed but we managed to cross into Maruitania 2 days ago.

The Moroccans let us leave without any questions asked and we managed to cross rather easily.

In the news today....

Ceuta Morocco Border to remain closed until May or June 2022doh

And there’s me planning to go through it in August. Fingers crossed time I think.

Face-saving coverage by the Spanish press—in reality the decision on the border rests totally with Morocco which remains peed off with Spain and is in no hurry to relax the pressure on the Ceuta and Melilla exclaves. Morocco has yet to reinstate its ambassador to Madrid so nothing will happen for a while.

I wish this was not the case, my 690R is patiently waiting for me in southern Spain for another Morocco trip.

It was the Moroccan press (I don't follow the Spanish press).

Both sides need to agree for a border to be open, as we have seen with the Mauritanian border, Mauritania says open, Morocco says closed.

This is more due to Spains upgrades to the border post than COVID, installation of new "intelligent" controls and renovation of the buildings. Spain has said several times Ceuta border wont open until this work is complete

So the stories are the same—claiming it will take more than three months for some upgrades.

Morocco is accused of economic suffocation the two exclaves and there's a whole pile more complications as this backgrounder explains.

The 'intelligent border' is not specifically for Ceuta and Melilla, it's part of the smart border project that the European Commission dreamed up five years ago. I can't see why the delays in implementing this should be used as an excuse to hold up the opening of borders with Morocco.

Work was supposed to start 12 months ago but the construction tenders weren't issued until September 2021 and the work is just about getting started now. The Ceuta authorities have repeatedly stated that the border wont open until the work is completed.

But its only 1 crossing point, the bigger issue is the ongoing suspension of travel and lack of progress on passenger access to the ferries from Spain.

I still have my GNV ticket for 5 Feb...and completely puzzled, what to do.
Start preparing in time, or wait until 1 Feb to see if closure gets prolonged?

There will be an announcement this week probably Thursday after the regular government meeting.

Last week the gov said reopening is a priority but only when the data is favourable and any announcement will be last minute. Currently recording over 8000 cases a day and European case numbers are still high. My bet is another extension.

Although there's been some days of 9,000+ and 8,000+ new cases of Covid, the seven day rolling average (which takes account of low case numbers over the weekend) is currently 7,250 which is some way off the previous August 2021 high of 9,774.

Something I wrote (elsewhere) on 4 January The trend in the past few days is that whilst Marrakech region has remained roughly the same, Casablanca and Rabat have dropped dramatically and the other regions (Souss-Massa, Beni Mellal, Oriental, etc) have increased rapidly. Thus case numbers have risen by just 20% in ten days.

So it seems to me that the wave is already receding in Casablanca and Rabat.

Having said that I don't think we can trust case numbers (we certainly can't in the UK anymore), so the better indication is probably numbers of patients being provided with oxygen either through masks or intubation. These are currently 203 and 29 respectively, which are slightly down in the last couple of days, but certainly many orders of magnitude less than the highs reached in August 2021 of 1415 and 82.

On past performance the government has shown itself to be cautious in the extreme and I wouldn't be surprised if the flight restrictions were extended, however there is a surprising number of calls from Moroccan epidemiologists for the country to open up.

We see the same behaviour of patterns repeatedly with Morocco, a couple of weeks before the end of a current ban the press will alternate between reports of restrictions lifting or tightening up. The experts are quoted as saying they can be relaxed........

Probably worth not reading too much into it but both the Africa Eco Race and the Morocco Desert Challenge have cancelled the events planned for the spring in Morocco. THE MDC is a huge undertaking (2nd biggest rally after the Dakar) and gets some very preferential treatment from the authorities. They probably had ways to run, shipping vehicles as freight etc but have decided to postpone again

At what point are people going to start committing to trips for 2022? Contemplating a trip in April, but nervous given the Morocco Desert Challenge being cancelled; although that’s a bigger undertaking than booking flights and renting 3 bikes!

Hard to predict really, the sudden closures are undermining confidence for travellers.

The current closure has been in place for 2 months almost and only 2 repatriation ferries organised so far. There were roughly 4000 trapped with vehicles. In addition there was some anger that a lot of space on the first ferry was taken up by commercial vehicles not affected by the travel ban. Air passengers faired much better with evacuation routes.

If the borders reopen soon the spring season may see some hope but when it might happen is unknown yet. If it extends for another month I’ll probably scrap my spring plans and keep my fingers crossed for autumn.

I believe the Sinovac vaccine shows almost no efficacy against Omicron. I wonder if that will have an impact.


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I've read the level of antibodies from two Sinovac doses plus booster is about the same as two Pfizer doses without booster, i.e. not enough to prevent most infections.

But two Pfizer doses still provides T and B memory cell defence against serious illness, and hopefully it's the same for Sinovac.

The Chinese vaccine used in Morocco is Sinopharm. I had a brief search for which countries could be using Sinovac and possibly Algeria and Libya might be on the list.

_______________________________

The Moroccan government has confirmed the peak of the Omicron wave has passed. Case numbers in Morocco are still declining however intensive care and ventilation numbers are expected to continue to rise for some time as those affected tend to be in hospital for an extended period.

On a very positive note, research by the US Center for Disease Control has concluded that the level of protection provided by prior infection is actually stronger than that provided by vaccine, and adding vaccine doses on top of natural protection doesn't raise it any more. Whilst the research was carried out pre-Omicron there's no reason the effect will be different and it means that widespread infection in a country, especially where there's a low level of vaccination, will provide additional protection against future waves.

State of Emergency extended until the end of Feb 2022, no news on the the borders so far, possibly an announcement over the next few days

Decision about the borders in a couple of days:
https://medias24.com/2022/01/27/reou...-jours-baitas/

MWN report flights resume on the 7th Feb

Conditions for entry into Morocco announced.

Proof of vaccination and negative PCR within 48hrs before travel.

Antigen test on arrival.

Random PCR tests on groups of travellers.

Also possible

Random PCR tests for tourists at hotels/places of residence

Morocco to RIM
 

Does anybody have any recent info about this border?
Now it' s officially confirmed that flights and ferries would restart from the 7th, but no word about the land borders.

Morocco's SoE extended until 31st March 2022. Not a surprise!

That's 2 years of a State of Emergency now.

No news on maritime borders or land borders. GNV and others are cancelling ferries into March now

Morocco has dropped the requirement for Lateral Flow tests for all arrivals. These will now be random testing.

No news on ferries ,but neither GNV or La Meridionale can confirm any departures over the next two weeks.

The testing requirement was rumoured to be the reason why the ferries hadn't resumed. With Ramadan approaching this latest change may mean that ferries start running again before the holidays.

Or they could remain suspended for Ramadan and resume for Operation Marhaba in the summer. Its anyone's guess at the moment

SoE extended until the end of April. No news on ferries yet

I received an email today from FRS that they are "starting to get ready to sail again" to Morocco .

Obviously sending an email is not worth much in terms of reality, but I believe that its enough to show that things may be moving in the right direction for now.

I am sure the operators/hotels ect in Morocco are quite anxious to see folks start to travel again. In Canada we were quite lucky to have the Gov't step in with many support programs for a large swath of the population. Without some of these programs it would have been a tough time for many people here,I cant imagine what it was like in a place like Morocco where there was likely a much more limited support structure ,if any at all.

Fingers crossed that its all heading in the right direction.


Paulo

Yes a lot of good progress recently.

Spain and Moroccos Foreign Ministers meet on the first and the ferry service is a priority item particularly with the approach of Operation Marhaba in June. I think we are some way off ferries just yet but hopefully soon.

Moroccos open for air travel just not by ferry yet.

Spain has extended the closure of its land borders with Morocco until the end of April 2022.

It has previously been reported that Ceuta will stay closed until May or June to allow the completion of construction work to the border facilities.

Confirmed crossing from Morocco to Mauritania a few days ago.

Rumours circulating that northbound crossings at Gueggarat will be possible from tomorrow but it’s unclear if this is for everyone or just locals during Ramadan like last year.

EDIT - Crossing confirmed 04/04/22 by french nationals heading north

Yes it seems to be totally open but with PCR test.
https://afrique.le360.ma/maroc-mauri...gation-du-test

With the resumption of ferries, it may not seem relevant to some but the SoE has been extended until the end of May 2022

Spain has extended the closure of the land borders with Morocco until the 15th May while they ensure everything’s in place for the Summer rush with Operation Maharba

Plane
 

Hi,
I saw on the other page that the ferry no longer needed a corona test, just a vaccination.

Does this now also apply to the aircraft or is a test still needed for this? I can't really find it anywhere.

Does anyone know more about this?

You still need a PCR test and proof of vaccination for air travel.

There are rumours this may change soon though

Is it genuine that no test is needed for the ferry? Seems odd it’s needed for air but not sea.


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Yep,no test needed,must be fully vaccinated tho.did algeciras tangier med two days ago

By Ferry it’s either proof of vaccination OR a PCR.

By air it proof of vaccination AND PCR.

Just as odd as flights restarting weeks before ferries did

According to news reports, Spain's Interior Minister has stated Spain has agreed a reopening of the borders between Ceuta/Bab Sebta and Melilla/Beni Enzar.

EU citizens and those with Schengen visas (or otherwise authorised to circulate in the Schengen area) will be able to enter Spanish territory from Tuesday 17 May. Legally recognised cross-border workers and those with a specific Ceuta/Melilla visa will be able to enter from Tuesday 31 May.

Morocco drops PCR requirements with immediate effect.

Note this is likely to mean a change to the current requirement to present vaccination proof and a PCR to enter the country by air and not mean a change for travel by ferry.

The news is being presented differently elsewhere with travellers needing to supply EITHER a negative PCR test OR a Covid Travel Pass, https://www.maprabat.ma/fr/covid-19-...e-de-la-sante/

Those who are not vaccinated and therefore choose to supply a negative PCR test now need a test performed within the 72 hours of boarding plane/ferry (previously 48 hours for flights).

______________________________________

Sanitary measures for the various points of entry into Morocco now require the presentation of a valid SARS-Cov-2 vaccination passport, in accordance with the national vaccination protocol, or the result of a negative PCR test not exceeding 72 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Social Protection on Wednesday.

This decision was taken as part of the update of the national health protocol for international travel, and given the stabilization of the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 at national and international level, underlines the ministry in a press release.

The Ministry recalls that a valid vaccine passport means the administration of three doses or, failing that, two doses, the administration time of the 2nd of which does not exceed four months, with the exception of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, where a single dose is equivalent to 2 doses of the other vaccines.

Children under 12 are exempt from all access conditions, says the same source, inviting travelers to consult the official website of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection "www.sante.gov.ma" as well as its social networks for more details on the updated national health protocol for international travel.

Ceauta update
 

Just crossed from Ceauta to Maroc.
Ferry ticket from Carlos E185 for camper and 2 pax. (E177 on line but we got a goody bag with a bottle of wine and some biscuits!)
Stayed the night in Ceauta which was very pleasant.
Head for the border and turn right at the last roundabout marked hospital, at the top turn back into a large compound and get a ticket from man in orange shirt. Head to frontier, hand in ticket, show covid vax certificate, immigration friendly, go to customs with V5, (vehicle document) get white doc for vehicle, cursory search and off you go.
First town on route Fundiq has Axa bank with ATM for cash and next door on the right first floor has insurance, 970 Mad for a month or 2000 something for 3 months.
Off to play in the desert.
Bruce:thumbup1:

Thanks for the update, was the ferry ticket return or 1 way?

Ceauta
 

One way
Diesel is E160, 14.8Mad

Directions?
 

Someone showed me the front cover of Chris Scott's Morocco overland Ed. 3 which I don't have. Can anyone tell me where the crater is and coordinates please. (In gorge du Ziz at the mo.)
Cheers
Bruce

COVID-19 - Morocco Master Thread
 

It’s called Gara Medouar, about 40km NW of Merzouga.

And this is what it looked like last week [emoji3526]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4bb04aafa0.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c3b838c8d0.jpg

N31 18 01.8 W4 23 57.1

Just north of the RN17 from Rissani heading west. You can see it from the road so no issues finding it

Gara
 

Thanks both
B

Just don't expect to find the ruins of Blofeld's lair there!

SoE extended until 30th June

Temporary Vehicle Import Permit exemption/waiver has been extended through to the end of 2022. (You still need a TVIP but it’s not limited to 180 days at the moment)

If you have a vehicle in Morocco you need to apply at the customs office for a new TVIP card before the current one expires.

Expired Covid pass
 

When I arrived for chek in at Tanger med on May 30th to go back to spain, I've been told my covid pass was too old (last shot)... I wondered how I would deal with that but the guy at the desk told me " no problem, go the next village , ask for the doctor and do a test"
So I drove to the village Ksar Sghir 5 minutes from there and asked for the doctor to a taxi, I found the "Cabinet Medical" by the brand new BMW car parked behind, 5 minutes and 250 dirham later I had my paper and went back to check in without problem.
I guess I'm not the only one everyday!

How old was your last shot done?

I’m having my 3rd booster on Saturday and travelling on 17th September and hoping I don’t need to have to pay for a pcr whilst over there

According to the Gov.Uk site;

If I’ve read this correctly, I’ll be covered as well as my partner who has had 3

That’s correct at the moment.

I should be crossing around a similar time to you in September if every thing goes to plan.

My last shot (3rd) was 9 month old, too old to enter Spain.

If you happen to see a bright green 110 Landy, give us a wave or if we’re stopped, pop over for a chat

Likewise. I'm in a dark blue landcruiser

If anyone knows, how about an update on travel requirements for Morocco for the benefit of all.

Do we still all need a negative PCR within 72 hours of arriving by sea or air (or from RIM)?
And if not, what are the exceptions?
At what point does a recent vax shot (there is talk of a 4th for over 50s in the UK) become too old for exemption to enter Mk without needing to show a PCR?

FDC75 talked of having to get a test to get out of Morocco.
Are the regs the same as above - too long since last vax shot?

Thanks for clarifications.

No changes recently but there are rumours of a new protocol being published this month

Thanks.
Can you summaries the current regs - I've lost track and maybe others have too.

To enter Morocco,

Passengers are required to have had three vaccine doses (or have had their second vaccine dose within the previous four months), Morocco accepts proof of vaccination from any country but it must be valid in the country of issue.

OR

proof of a negative PCR test result, with the sample having been taken within 72 hours before boarding.

Children under the age of 12 are exempt from these requirements.

Certificates of COVID-19 recovery are not accepted by the Moroccan authorities as an alternative to a negative PCR test result.

All passengers are required to complete a Passenger Locator form before arrival in Morocco, these can be downloaded online from https://www.sante.gov.ma

New passenger locator form out today. Apparently for both air and sea arrivals although the form only has a section for flight number not ferry details.

I expect it will become clearer over the next few days
https://www.sante.gov.ma/Documents/2...20passager.pdf

(The old form is still available on the Sante website but no longer linked from the COVID page)

Hardly news anymore but the SoE is extended until the end of September.

Hello,

is this link still valid?
https://www.sante.gov.ma/PublishingI...csf=1&e=vs2jUu

And

Does anyone know about PCR Test Centres in Tarifa and Tanger for non-vaxxed travels?

Kind regards

Evidence of three shots was required last week when we went through Ceuta. They accepted my NHS record cards - that they give you at the time of the injection. Other than that and passports + V5 for the bike we needed nothing. ‘Passenger locator’ was a verbal question about where we’re going.

Well, tripple vaxxed and quadruple boostered doesn´t apply to me.*

As far as my research went (FRS Ferry health protocol) , it´s

- fully vaxxed

or

- negative 72hrs PCR

on entry from Spain to Morocco. Same on return, + Spain accepts 24hrs rapid antigen test, too.


So, for Morocco<>Spain a simple test to prove my health status should be enough to cross borders.

Where can I conduct such test in or around Tarifa and Tanger as quick and cheap as possible?

Nearest test center to Tarifa is a "clinic" in Algeciras, according to google maps. That´d be a dull detour.

*As I never felt being part of any high risk group and survived 2-3 light infections with a headache since 2020, I´d like to stay in the control group of the un-treated. Less myocarditis, less severe reinfections and what not else...

stay sane

We had no checks for Covid passes on either the Spanish ferry from Almeria or the border into Morocco at Melilla.

Spain has dropped its covid requirements so no need for tests when returning to Europe anymore

A vax pass (triple vax) or negative test is still officially required for non EU/Schengen entrants, but no qr code or locator form.

In other words, you *may* be required to show Covid documents on entry but they are not required in advance.


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Details here

https://www.spth.gob.es/


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I'm on the road at the moment so didn't look into the details, just passed on what was posted elsewhere.

TBH I've not had anything checked on the last couple of visits to Spain anyway

That’s what I’d heard too - probably it’s fine, but there could be a check.


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Covid passports checked coming into Melilla

SoE extended until the end of October.

No other changes

All covid entry requirements lifted from today!!!!

Only a passenger locator form officially required.

By locator form I think you may mean the 'Passenger Health Form' at airports (and maybe ports)?
You can fill it out online here, adding some last minute details, as needed.
https://www.sante.gov.ma/PublishingI...SP%20avion.pdf
Or pick one up on entry.

Anyway, with things back to normal I think it's high time to unstick this thread ;-)

Yep the days of this needing to be a sticky seem to be over.

The SoE is still in place and the local news has started reporting cases again but I don’t think we will see restrictions reintroduced again

It's a dangerous world
 

Just when you thought it was safe to 'enter the water'...:Beach: