ARCHIVED - Morocco adds travellers from Spain, France and Portugal to quarantine list

All three countries are now listed as high-risk areas for Covid-19 and the Delta variant.

The Moroccan Ministry of Health has announced that travellers to Morocco from Spain, France and Portugal will be forced to quarantine for ten days - if they are not vaccinated with both doses - after they were deemed “high-risk areas” for spreading Covid and its Delta variant.

Those who have to quarantine will spend the ten days in a hotel designated by the authorities and will have to pay for their stay.

The new safety measures beginning on July 13, correspond with the latest update to travel restrictions made by the Moroccan authorities on Sunday, July 11, with Spain, France and Portugal being moved from list A to list B on Morocco's Covid travel restrictions list - which now includes 81 countries in total.

Also, as well as having to quarantine, travellers from these countries will have to obtain a "special authorisation" to travel and present a negative PCR carried out 48 hours before entering the country.

It was just under a month ago that Morocco resumed flights to Spain and Europe after months of being suspended to prevent the spread of the pandemic, however, restrictions have changed since then as the country has reacted to pandemic situations in other countries.

This news could already affect the announcement made last month that Air Arabia would be operating two weekly flights from Corvera airport to Morocco over the summer.

It is also worth noting that travel from Spanish ports to Morocco has also been affected, with the "Paso del Estrecho" annual operation being suspended for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As with last year, Sète (France) and Genoa (Italy) will continue offering transport for returning Moroccans living abroad with passengers travelling to the country by sea having to present a negative PCR at the time of embarking and subjected to another whilst onboard, "in order to guarantee maximum health security for them and their families."

Spain is currently suffering a fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic and has now been placed on many of Europe’s 'red travel list', as countries react to Spain’s rise in the cumulative incidence rate, which is now one of the highest in Europe, behind Portugal.

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