From our Special Envoy to Morocco,
After spending three days in remote villages in the earthquake-ravaged mountains of the northern Taroudant region, the difference is striking when we arrive in Agadir. Life goes on here. The earthquake left no trace, at least no material trace. “We felt the tremors that evening. “The staff evacuated the guests from the hotels for a few hours, everyone is still aware of the earthquake,” explains Rachid, a street vendor who tirelessly walks along the beach promenade in search of customers. The earthquake he is talking about is the one that killed more than 12,000 people in Agadir in the 1960s. So far, but so close.
On the same seafront promenade you have to realize that this Sunday in September does not have the crowds of the big days. A few couples, often older ones, stroll leisurely across the asphalt. Despite the bright blue sky and a relatively mild temperature of 28 degrees, there is little sand on the sandy beaches of the large tourist resorts. “Normally at this time, between September and October, all hotels are fully booked. There is no one there,” complains Ismaël, another street vendor who is struggling to sell his geodes. So as soon as a tourist appears in his area, the boardwalk surveyors come across him.
So when we ask these vendors whether they find the presence of tourists just a few dozen kilometers from a humanitarian tragedy indecent, they lose their temper. “Of course we need tourism, on the contrary, we have to tell them to come. “We won’t get by with the minimum wage here,” Ismaël continues, before he goes on the hunt for a few young French people. Apparently he admits to earning about fifteen euros a day by selling his shiny stones, while the Moroccan minimum wage does not exceed 300 euros per month.
At the reception of a large hotel in Agadir, a receptionist confided his concerns to us on condition of anonymity: “We had a lot of cancellations, so there are a lot of free rooms. Today you can stay overnight for 200 dirhams,” he slips. That’s the equivalent of 20 euros, unbeatable. However, many tourists decided to come anyway. This is the case of Alain and Marie, who originally come from Alsace. “The trip had been planned for a month and was originally going to Marrakech,” explains Marie. The day after the earthquake, both of them were a little upset. “We followed the news to see what was going on and since the travel agent didn’t warn us, we decided to go anyway,” her husband continues.
Another French couple, in their 70s, barely leaves the newcomers’ meeting at their hotel. They are a little disappointed: “There are many excursions that are no longer offered, like Marrakesh or the High Atlas, that’s a shame,” the husband regrets, accompanied by his wife’s nod. They half-heartedly regret not postponing their vacation. “I understand people who cancel. If I’m told to vacation in a country but it’s dangerous, I might go somewhere else,” a fresh fruit seller assures us, his box full of grapes, figs and dates remaining hopelessly full. As a result, business goes “so and so” for him, but he doesn’t despair that things will pick up again quickly, “inchallah”.