They will be able to go home. A few thousand French tourists have been stranded for several days in Morocco due to the restrictions that the country has imposed and which affect air and sea connections. The kingdom finally authorized flights to allow French nationals to return, announced Saturday the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
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Since Thursday evening, the Moroccan authorities have been banning the bans and have suspended “ until further notice ” air links to France, Algeria, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal after Italy, already blocked. Maritime passenger traffic is also suspended in all Mediterranean and Atlantic ports.
It was with a tweet that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced on Saturday that he had met with his counterpart Nasser Bourita " to facilitate the return of our compatriots from #Morocco ".
" The necessary authorizations for the organization of return flights will be given, " he said. " Our embassy in #Morocco and the ministry's crisis center are fully mobilized, " he said.
" There are fewer and fewer flights and more and more countries closing their borders, some planes have left during the night, some flights are still scheduled, planes will come empty to repatriate the most urgent cases " , specifies the diplomatic source joined by AFP.
Marrakech, Morocco's busiest airport, is crowded: “ we have been told since yesterday that the airspace is closed, lots of people have slept at the airport, there are pregnant women, families with children, everyone is at the end of their nerves, ”indignant Sabrina, a 30-year-old Parisian woman contacted by telephone by AFP.
" Macron, a plane! "
" We are taken hostage here (...) We had no instructions. We can't leave anymore. And we are told that the airport will be closed this evening, ”says a 55-year-old French nurse met by AFP outside Tangier airport. " Macron, a plane, " growled travelers around her. Inside, passengers are trying to change their tickets at the counters, but all the planes are full, according to the airport information desk.
The Embassy of the Netherlands in Rabat announced on Twitter that there were still flights to the Netherlands until Sunday at 8 a.m., without specifying from which airports. The Spanish embassy is also trying to negotiate departures for its nationals, according to information obtained by AFP. As Europe has become the epicenter of the pandemic, Spain is one of the countries most affected by the new coronavirus, with more than 5,700 cases identified and at least 136 deaths. In France, there are 79 dead and over 3,600 contaminations.
Read also: Spain: 1,500 new cases of coronavirus
Morocco remains relatively spared with 17 cases detected, one of whom died and another healed, according to the latest assessment published by the authorities which identified nine new cases overnight from Friday to Saturday. Classes have been suspended in schools and universities, sporting events are held behind closed doors, public gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited, but it is not certain that this measure concerns collective prayers in mosques.
