A Note From Morocco
Yes, we’re still here.
This morning we were due to sail out of Tangier and over to Spain, but we’re still sat in the marina. Here’s what happened…
Early this morning we moved from our pontoon to the welcome dock, having already checked out of the marina the day before. All that was left to do was clear out of the country and we would be on our way. Once the office opened we were processed by customs. We then handed our passports over to the border police and they checked our vessel in the usual manner. So far, so good.
Our passports were returned and we were told to wait on the boat for final approval before casting off. The kids were ready to go; complete with lifejackets, harnesses, suncream and sea-sick medication. But the wait dragged on for a bit, and at this point we realised that our passports had not been stamped out of the country. After a lot of toing and froing over the following hours we found out that the authorities had come down the from the Wilaya (the regional government authority) for a meeting with the officials here at the marina. (For context, this is the first time such a meeting has ever taken place.)
The outcome of this meeting was that there was no outcome. We were to continue to wait for approval to leave. By this time it was about 1pm. Our window for crossing the Gibraltar Strait with the correct currents and tide had passed, and we were still in the dark about why all the fuss. The marina staff were pleading to authorities on our behalf with no luck. The sinking feeling that we may not be able to leave Morocco was devastating. We’ve put a lot of effort in to get to this point. And although lockdown here is over, and the State of Emergency is due to end in a week, there are now rumours that the borders might still be locked down until February.
It then transpired that overnight Morocco had been removed from the so-called “safe list” of countries allowed back into the EU due to Coronavirus. Apparently Spain has refused to reopen its borders to Morocco in a reciprocity move. In other words, Spain will only welcome travellers from Morocco if the North African country opens up its borders to travellers from Spain. Bear in mind that even the customs officials and border police were none the wiser. The block on our departure had come down all the way from the top.
Our timing could not have been worse. Our lucky date of 1 July had become very unlucky indeed. Ironically, had we left just 24 hours earlier, when Morocco’s borders were still officially closed, we would have actually been allowed to leave the country. (Two other boats successfully left Morocco and checked into Spain last week.)
By this time it was about 2.30pm and we had been trying to leave for the past 6 hours. Following all of this transpiring, we were then advised to visit the Wilaya ourselves to plead the case. A translator suggested that we could get authority to leave providing that a consul or embassy provided the necessary paperwork. There ensued a dozen frantic calls to Casablanca and Rabat for assistance, with no luck. The next step was an emergency call to the UK Foreign Office in London, who connected us with a consular official who is helping us tick the right boxes.
The Wilaya nor the embassy had heard of such a case as ours before. This is not normal procedure, but these are not normal times. Even so, it seems that we are in a very unique situation indeed. We hope to have some good news overnight. The correct letter from London will clear our travel with the Wilaya and grant us special permission to leave.
In the meantime we had to be processed back in through customs, since we had already cleared out this morning. So tonight we are essentially sleeping at the departure gate. If we don’t leave Morocco tomorrow the weather changes and we will need to wait another week for the next window.
It’s been a tiring day for all the wrong reasons. Let’s hope tomorrow goes a little smoother.
