Feb: Civil Unrest in Morocco

On a more serious note this time. With all the unrest in Arab countries, are we under threat of political turmoil here in Morocco? There is a wide gulf between rich and the numerous poor, and the country is ruled by a powerful royal family. So considerable discontent might be expected, and indeed Sunday 20th Feb saw demonstrations in Rabat (the capital), Casablanca, Marrakech and several large towns. These mainly passed off peacefully, but in one town 5 people died in a bank that was set on fire. This turned out to be criminals who had used the cover of the demonstration to try and rob the bank.

About 35,000 protesters turned out in total, but this is not a large number for the size of the country. Actually, the King seems quite popular and the protesters were not demanding the abolition of the monarchy, rather that he should transfer more of his powers to the elected assembly.

The country is more liberal than most other Arab states, so people don’t feel so repressed. There is freedom of speech, and the influx of tourists and the TV allow Moroccans to see the wider world. The Internet and mobile phones are readily available and cheap.

Tourism also gives all inhabitants a chance to benefit. On the campsite there are private individuals providing the following services: caravan/motorhome cleaning, made-to-measure leather goods, a painter of pictures onto your caravan, fishmonger, greengrocer, general store, awning maker, fancy goods, oil & honey stall.

There is grinding poverty here and low literacy rates, but the economy is expanding, particularly through tourism, and the general feeling seems to be that everybody has a chance, and an improving chance, to make a better life. Morocco is certainly nothing like Gadaffi’s Libya or the fundamentalist regimes, and I’ve had no indication that the average Moroccan wants to take to the streets to move in any sort of extreme direction.