Philippe Laleu Exhibition - Don't Miss it!

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Will Morocco End Daylight Saving?

On February 7th, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the abandonment of the daylight saving summer timetable. If EU member states are in favour of this proposal, Morocco may also adopt this resolution

The system of summer time is now believed to have more negative points than positive according to the deputies of the European Parliament of Strasbourg. Thus, 384 out of 549 MEPs voted to abandon the summer timetable to adopt a unified European schedule. It will be up to the European Commission to take the advice of all member states before a final decision is taken.

If the summer timetable disappears in Europe, it will also be the case in Morocco especially as its largest economic partners are in Europe, including France and Spain.

MEPs, for their part, justified their vote by the existence of scientific studies demonstrating that it has no positive impact. They argue that the disadvantages have more impact, whether on human health or on agriculture, as well as on the multiplication of road accidents. Moreover, Russia, which has abandoned the summer schedule, said that in the first years of its adoption, its first week recorded some 70,000 deaths in road accidents.

The adoption of summer time dates back to 1784 when it was imposed by Benjamin Franklin in the United States to save candles. In 1916, Europe adopted daylight saving time in the midst of the World War and abandoned it in 1946 at the end of the Second World War. Europe adopted summer time again during the 1973-74 oil crisis to save gas and fuel.

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The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy

The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy under the theme "Culinary arts, health and wisdom of the world: gastronomy and local cultures of Morocco and elsewhere", will be held from April 19 to 22

"The event will revisit the collective memory of the gastronomic heritage, of a common cultural history. Our ambition is to see how each country tries to expose its gastronomic art, to develop it to the extent that this promotion is the best ambassador there is, "says Oussama Skali, director of the festival.

This 3rd edition will highlight the kitchens of Tunisia and Mexico. During the numerous conferences, artistic performances and evenings (dinners / debates) organised during the festival there will also be music and the arts.

"We have among the speakers Mrs. Gloria Lopez Morales, the president of the World Forum of Gastronomy of Mexico, who has worked to introduce Mexican gastronomy into the UNESCO World Heritage," says the event's leader.

Another renowned speaker is Professor Henri Joyeux. Author of the best seller "Change of Food" Henri Joyeux should interest the festival-goers with his "health passport" approach.

"It is through the aphorism of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: "Tell me what you eat: I'll tell you what you are ", that we will trace the path of this knowledge," announces Skali. Mirroring with the book: "Cuisine and Dietetics in the Western Medieval Arab", according to an anonymous treatise of the 13th century, this year's festival will reflect on how to integrate into the contemporary political and diplomatic approach , essential cultural dimensions in a perspective of well-being.

Festival-goers will discover the paths by which we are led to both the art of living and that of food. "We can discover a wealth of information full of creativity and common sense in works of medieval Andalusia such as that of Tujibi, in the gastronomic heritage of Morocco in its different cultures, in the Amerindian traditions of Mexico or Peru, in the Ayurvedic Indian tradition, that of Japan related to Shintoism and Buddhism and the dietary and psycho-spiritual advice of Hildegard of Bingen, "says Skali.

Among them are chiefs Christian Tetedoie, Moha, and Najat Kanaache. These cooks will share their knowledge and their art with the public. They will also reinterpret our respective gastronomies in the light of these centuries-old experiences and what we say and propose in science today.

Local products

From April 19th to 22nd, every evening of the festival will be held with a gastronomic dinner accompanied by debates, prepared by one of the chefs in collaboration with small local producers and the Fez-Meknes region. Also, the festival will apply the concept of diplomacy from the kitchen. Chefs from different countries will work together to present their own gastronomy, but also to create joint creations.

The View From Fez is an official Media Partner of the Festival

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The Couscous Rocket - Samir Azzimani's Olympic Result

Samir Azzimani, the "couscous rocket", realised his dream while fulfilling his sporting goals. At the Alpensia resort he crossed the finish line of the 15 km cross-country skiing in a modest 111th place, more than 13 minutes behind the winner

Samir managed to complete a race in this most demanding sporting discipline at the age of forty and was then involved in what has been a defining image of this year's Winter Olympics.

Mexico’s German Madrazo was heroically skiing in last place to the line, proudly brandishing the flag of his country and smiling jubilantly. After crossing the finish after 15 kilometres of gruelling freestyle cross-country racing on Friday, he was lifted high into the air and onto the shoulders of Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua, who finished 114th, and Samir Azzimani, for whom just getting to the end was an achievement in itself.

The 43-year-old Madrazo came 116th out of the 116 who made it home, fully 25 minutes 51.5 seconds behind the winner Dario Cologna of Switzerland.

Tonga's Pita Taufatofua (L) and Samir Azzimani (R) lift Mexico's Madrazo onto their shoulders at the finish line

Azzimani made history by becoming the Arab world’s first dual-sport Olympian after competing in the alpine skiing event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In addition to his desire not to finish last, in reality, his main goal was to represent Morocco at the Winter Olympics for the second time in his career, after those of Vancouver, in 2010, in which he finished 44th in slalom and 74th in giant slalom.

At the end of last November, he was forced, with a pair of skis on wheels, to cross Morocco from north to south in five weeks. At the price of unimaginable suffering, those 1700 km forged attitude to long races.

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New Ryanair Flights To Fez

The low-cost airline Ryanair has announced that it will soon launch two new lines linking Valencia to Fez and Tangiers and two other new routes between Seville, Rabat and Tangier

These new lines will each have a frequency of two flights per week and are part of 29 new lines scheduled in the 2018 winter calendar of the company, which will link several Spanish airports to various destinations in Europe and Morocco, said the company on its website.

The winter timetable of the Irish carrier will also provide for the increase of flight frequencies on 35 existing lines, with the aim of carrying 41.5 million passengers a year via 26 Spanish airports, which would represent a 9% increase in operations from Ryanair in Spain.

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Tangier Tourism Growth Up 27%

Classified tourist establishments in Tangier registered 608,654 arrivals in 2017 against 478,170 a year earlier, an increase of 27%

Thus, the number of international visitors who went to Tangier stood at 312,074 tourists during the year 2017 (+ 49% ), while national tourists totalled 296,580, up 10% over to 2016, with an average stay of two days.

The various classified hotel units of Tangier recorded, during this period, 1,237,391 nights compared to 991,489 in 2016, an increase of 25%, with an occupancy rate of 45% against 40%, year-on-year.

The Spaniards come first among the foreign tourists who visited the city of Tangier during this period (56,744), followed by the French (46,296), Arabs (25,246), Americans (15,026), Chinese (12,379), British ( 9.160), Germans (7.512), Belgians (6.199) and Scandinavians (5.302).

Tourist establishments classified 4 stars have welcomed some 179,100 tourists, followed by those classified as 3 stars (162,026), 5 stars (110,023), 2 stars (80,693) and a star (43,642), as well as residential hotels. (20,454) and guest houses (9,846).

In December alone, 43,567 tourists visited Tangier against 41,156 in December 2016, up 6% with the number of overnight stays was 82,212, up 3% year-on-year, with an occupancy rate of 39% versus 34% in December 2016.

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National Film Festival in Tangier

Initiated by the Moroccan Film Centre (CCM), the National Film Festival (FNF) will be held from March 9 to 17 in Tangier for its 19th edition

The FNF is an artistic, cultural and promotional event with the objective of promoting the development of national film production and to contribute to the dissemination of Moroccan film and create a space for meetings, dialogue and film exchange.

The program of this edition, which coincides with the sixtieth Anniversary of Moroccan cinema, includes a competition for short and long films produced since the last edition, debates around these films, a presentation of the cinematographic report for 2017, professional meetings and parallel activities.

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Morocco's Olympic Team at Opening Ceremony

The Olympic opening ceremony saw the lifting of the Moroccan flag with the sounds of the national anthem, in the presence of the Moroccan ambassador to South Korea, Chafik Rachadi, Nawal El Moutawakil, member of the International Olympic Committee and Majd Chaqroun, president of the Moroccan delegation.

The mayor of the village Olympic, Ryu Seung-min welcomed the Moroccan delegation. The the Moroccan team is composed of the athletes Adam Lamhamedi (alpine skiing) and Samir Azzimani (cross-country skiing), and coaches Noureddine Bouchaal and Denis Boissière and technician Sami Latif. They are accompanied by the vice-president of the Moroccan National Olympic Committee, Kamal Lahlou, the director of sports at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Azeroual, and the director of the Moroccan National Olympic Committee, Amine Kouam.

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Fez Tops 2017 Tourist Growth Figures

The tourism sector in Morocco recorded a positive balance sheet for 2017. The sector recorded strong growth in the number of non-resident tourist arrivals, overnight stays in classified tourist accommodation establishments (EHTC) and foreign exchange earnings, says a statement from the Ministry of Tourism, Air Transport, Crafts and Social Economy

The department notes that the number of tourist arrivals at border crossings was 11.35 million, an increase of 10% over 2016. "This increase affects almost the major markets of the Kingdom, as Germany (+ 15%), Holland and Italy (+ 9%), France and Spain (+ 8%), as well as the United States, which experienced a significant increase of + 29% » , adds the same source.

Emerging markets for Morocco, are experiencing the same trend, with an increase in the number of tourists from China (+ 151%), Japan (+ 39%), or Brazil (+ 38%).

As for the volume of nights spent in the EHTC, ​​it has evolved by 15% in 2017. A performance that is due to the increase of 18% of overnight stays of non-resident tourists, as well as those of resident tourists by 7%. In addition, the strongest growth in destinations was recorded in Fez (+ 39%), Ouarzazate (+ 37%), Tangier (+ 25%), Marrakech (+ 17%), Agadir and Casablanca (+ 11%). ).

The Minister of Tourism said that tourism earnings in foreign currencies reached 69.7 billion dirhams in 2017 against 64.2 billion dirhams in 2016, an increase of 8.5%.

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Morocco - New internal flights start on Sunday

Air connections from Casablanca to Errachidia (5 weekly flights), Zagora (3 flights per week) and Ouarzazate (1 flight per day) at a price of 400 DH one way will be effective from Sunday 11 February.

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15th International Nomad Festival

The association "Nomads of the World" launches the 15th edition of the International Festival of Nomads in M'hamid El Ghizlane, in the province of Zagora.  It runs from the 22nd to the 24th of March

The cultural event gives the local and international public access to ancestral arts and traditions. On the program are three days of music, debates, traditional sports and gastronomy.

Artists from Hungary, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, France and Morocco will take part in the festival. Ffteen open-air concerts will liven up the nights in the centre of M'hamid.

"Music programming is developed to provide a balance between internationally renowned artists and those in the making. The aim is to reach a diverse audience, to create links and to reinforce the fraternal dimension of the event ", explains the director of the event, Noureddine Bougrab.

The days will feature the traditional activities of the Saharan nomads. Cross-country sand hockey players known locally as "mok'hach", the competitors of the camel race called "ellaz". There will also be a sand loaf competition, "la mella" and a demonstration of nomadic tents.

Another tradition, that of the palaver, will be highlighted during the debates, presentations and workshops in the forum of Nomads. The themes will focus on the heritage and history of this Drâa-Tafilalet region. "This ancient cultural crossroads was a crucial step in trans-Saharan trade. But how to think about solutions for the future of nomadism in a Sahara that has seen its nomadic population shrink by 70% in the last decade? National and international specialists will deliver their visions, "emphasizes Noureddine Bougrab.

The festival-goers will also be able to discover the Monday Souk with its colours and scents.

 According to the director of the event, "the festival is a unifying event that, on the one hand, highlights the heritage of nomads and radiates the Hassani culture and on the other hand, supports the local economy by contributing to the attractiveness of M'hamid El Ghizlane in the Drâa-Tafilalet region and encouraging spectators of all origins to visit the area ".

Noureddine Bougrab, teacher of classical Arabic in M'hamid school, insists on the involvement of young people for the smooth running of the festival which welcomed 20,000 people and 300 stakeholders in 2017. "We expect even more this year" he says. This event is the result of a close collaboration between the association "Nomads of the World" and national and regional partners.

A look back at the 2017 edition


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Winter in Morocco - -5 degrees and lots of snow!

The weather - Cold weather on the reliefs, the Southeast, the highlands, the north and the interior of the country.

Snowfall low to moderate on the reliefs and highlands above 1.200m.

Moderate to locally significant rainfall or thunderstorms in central and northern southern provinces, especially in the areas between Safi and Laayoune during the evening and night.

Scattered showers or showers over the North, the Mediterranean, the East and the South-East Slopes. Little to slightly cloudy sky elsewhere. Low to moderate winds from South to West in general over the Kingdom with gusts of strong wind over the northern provinces of the South with sand storms in places.

Minimum temperatures of about -10 ° C to -05 ° C on the reliefs of the Atlas, from -05 to 00 ° C on the South of the Oriental and northeastern slopes, from 01 to 06 ° C on the Saiss, the north of the Oriental, the plateaus of phosphates and Oulmes, Gharb, Loukkos and on the coasts and plains north and central and from 06 to 12 ° C on the Souss and the provinces of the South.- Maximum temperatures of the order of -02 to 04 ° C on the reliefs and the oriental trays, of 05 with 10 ° C on the Saiss, the plateaus of phosphates and Oulmes, Gharb, Chaouia, Rehamna, Haouz and Chiadma, from 11 to 16 ° C near the coast and on the south-eastern slopes, Doukkala, Abda, Souss and the northern provinces of South and from 16 to 21 ° C on the extreme south of the country

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Morocco's Olympic Competitors

The two Moroccan skiers Adam Lamhamedi and Samir Azzimani will defend Morocco's national colours at the Olympic Winter Games scheduled for February 9-25 in Pyeongchang

Lamhamedi is registered in alpine skiing, while Azzimani will compete in the cross-country skiing event. A first in the history of the Moroccan Olympics.

Samir Azzimani

The Moroccan flag will be flown for the eighth time under the Olympic banner, during the 23rd Olympic Winter Games. Adam Lamhamedi will compete in the slalom and giant slalom events in downhill skiing. Lamhamedi will be assisted by his younger brother, Sami and Noureddine Bouchaal, in his quest for an Olympic medal, similar to the one he won at the Youth Olympics in Innsbruck in 2012. Lamhamedi also took part in 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. An honour that was subsequently marked by the IOC, who decided to exhibit his suit and helmet, flocked with the Moroccan flag, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

Samir Azzimani, he will take part in the 15 km free cross-country skiing event. Azzimani will be accompanied by Denis Boissière. After competing at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 in the alpine ski event, Azzimani is back in another event - the 15 km cross-country skiing.

To prepare for it, the Moroccan followed a long program, which led him to the Moroccan desert, where he perfected his resistance to extreme conditions. Both athletes received financial support from the Moroccan National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In Pyeongchang, there are no less than 3,000 athletes from 93 countries, who are expected in the capital of Gangwon Province. 102 events in 15 different disciplines are on the program. Eventually, a hundred medals will be distributed to the winners. A first in the history of the Winter Olympics.

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Moroccan water professionals learn about best water management practices in Germany

Water scarcity has dominated world news in recent days, shedding light on the challenges that many countries face when it comes to managing water resources in a sustainable way. Morocco, like other countries in the Maghreb region, faces this challenge against a backdrop of rapid population growth, urbanisation and economic development

The H2O Maghreb project, a public-private partnership initiative implemented by the United Nations industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and supported by FESTO Didactic SE, EON Reality, The Moroccan National Office for Drinking Water and Electricity (ONEE), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is helping to improve industrial and municipal wastewater management practices in Morocco and the rest of the Maghreb region.

H2O Maghreb aims to address some of the key factors contributing to unsustainable wastewater management practices in the region, such as the lack of up-to-date training in the latest technologies and slow job growth in the wastewater sector.

The project will focus on the development of new curricula for wastewater management-related skills – including the most recent technological innovations, such as adaptive virtual reality and automation technology – and of a demonstration and training hub at ONEE training centre. The two-year activity will upgrade the skills of trainers, water professionals and youth from Morocco in order to help increase their employability.

In order to select the appropriate equipment for the project’s training centre, a three-day study tour with project partners was held from 16 - 19 January at the University of Stuttgart and the premises of the project partner, FESTO Didactic SE.

During the three days, the project partners assessed technological innovations like FESTO’s Environmental Discovery System (EDS) for water management and Augmented Virtual Reality (AVR) for eventual use at the project premises. The AVR approach will help future water professionals to deal with potential dangerous issues or issues difficult to reproduce that could otherwise not be simulated during the training.

The H2O Maghreb project will be implemented over a period of two years with a budget of USD 2.7 million and is linked to UNIDO’s global knowledge sharing platform, the Learning and Knowledge Development Facility (LKDF).

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Moroccan Weather - More cold and rain

The Directorate of National Meteorology is forecasting more cold and wet weather for Morocco. Fez getting down to 1 Celsius up to a max of 11 or 12

Cold weather on the reliefs, the Southeast, the Oriental, the highlands, the north and the interior.- Cloudy with rain and showers sometimes thunderstorms on the Souss, Chiadma, Abda, Saïss, the High and the Middle Atlas and the plains north-west.

Moderate to heavy snowfall on the reliefs of the Atlas, the Rif, the Oriental beyond 800m.- Cloudy weather on the Tangier, the Mediterranean, the Oriental, the north of the south coast with light rain or showers.- Little to slightly cloudy sky elsewhere.

Moderate wind sector west to north over the southern provinces, from west sector on Tangierois and from southwest to west on south-east, north-west plains and reliefs.- Mineral temperatures ranging from -9 ° C to 3 ° C on the reliefs, from -1 ° C to 4 ° C on the Eastern highlands, southeastern slopes, phosphate and Oulmes plateaus, Saiss, northern Gharb and Loukkos, 4 ° C to 9 ° C on the coast, northern and central plains, Souss and from 8 ° C to 14 ° C on the southern provinces.- Maximum temperatures of -2 ° C to 4 ° C on the reliefs of the Atlas and the Rif, of 4 ° C to 9 ° C on the Oriental, the Saïss, the southeastern slopes, the phosphate and Oulmès plateaus, from 9 ° C to 14 ° C on the Mediterranean, the northern and central plains, from 15 ° C to 21 ° C in the southern provinces.

The sea was rough on the Mediterranean Sea, not so agitated on the Strait, not much agitated between Tangier and Larache, agitated with strong wind in the south.

Meanwhile, in the Sahara...

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Morocco Expects More Than 500,000 Chinese Tourists by 2020

Morocco is expecting the number of Chinese tourist arrivals to reach “at least 500,000” by 2020, against the 100,000 tourists recorded in 2017, said Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Mohamed Sajid

During a joint press conference on Thursday with Song Yu, Secretary-General of the World Federation of Tourism Cities (WTCF), Sajid revealed that the two countries are seeking to enhance tourism cooperation. The comments were made at a Morocco-China tourism forum in Casablanca.

To achieve this ambitious goal, Morocco is planning to create a direct air link with China by 2020 to accommodate more tourists from that country; a market which remains “largely under-exploited.”

“We must operate all the vectors of growth and the air will be one of our main priority. The creation of a direct line is under study by the National Office of Tourism,” said the minister as quoted by Medias24.

“Without being pretentious, we should very easily reach 500,000 visitors by 2020,” he indicated.

Though the minister is not sure whether this project will be finalized by 2019 or 2020, he affirms that it will be “done quickly,” especially considering that the “Ministry has initiated contacts with Chinese airlines that are willing to accompany and take advantage of the current explosion of this emerging market in Morocco.”

Sajid also revealed that the National Office of Tourism will strengthen its presence at its Beijing office. “Because with this enormous potential, we can no longer be satisfied with only having two employees already present in the office,” he said.

In June 2016, Morocco lifted pre-travel visa requirement for Chinese nationals wishing to enter Morocco.

In 2017, the number of Chinese tourists in Morocco increased by 760 percent, evidence of the broadening global pull of Morocco’s tourism sector.

According to Interbank Payment Center, Chinese tourists had the highest per capita spending of all foreign tourists in Morocco in 2017.
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Contemporary Dance Festival in Marrakech

The International Contemporary Dance Festival "On marche" is back from March 18th to 24th

Choreography, shows, conferences, screenings will be on show. This festival takes place in public and cultural spaces emblematic of the city, the objective being to interest as many people as possible in this art which is developing in Morocco. The festival will also welcome many foreign professionals.

The festival is an opportunity for Moroccan dancers to rub shoulders with directors and critics and possibly win a contract. Gathering this year more than 15 artistic projects, the edition's programmed shows will be resolutely turned towards the contemporary creation and of the most multiple forms.

"These are important urban punctuations enhanced by projects appropriate to the urban territory, and in dialogue with its history and its contemporaneity," says Taoufiq Izeddiou, founder of the festival which is in its 13th edition.

Over the years "On marche" has remained faithful to its basic essence, a nomad festival operating in several places to strengthen the Moroccan cultural landscape and contribute to its dynamics. The festival that will continue to build "synergies" with partners such as ESAV or the IFM and other international partners.

With its partners, the founder of the dance festival hopes to set up a future school of choreographic arts, "Nafass", which has been in discussion since the past edition. Nafass would be a permanent school in Marrakech and is planning an opening in the autumn of 2018.

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