Marrakech with future

Now more than ever it is necessary to go to Marrakech. Not because of the morbid curiosity of seeing the destruction in the oldest part of the medina, in the Jewish quarter, which has caused the deaths of 13 of the more than 2,000 people killed in the region, but because most of the beautiful red city remains unchanged, the airport and hotels are functioning because their structures are built to withstand earthquakes and the professional service attends to visitors.  

Of course, one has to be cautious and the experience of suffering an earthquake is traumatic, but at a time when the Moroccan people need international help to cope with the tragedy, it should be noted that the worst affected areas are in the villages of the provinces of Al Haouz, with more than 1,200 deaths, and Taroudant, with almost 500 deaths. These areas in the Atlas and Morocco in general would suffer another earthquake, in this case an economic and social one, if panic were to spread and tourism were to stop visiting this North African country with its unique and magical places.

It may be a little premature to look to the future when the present calls for helping the victims, deconstructing, spending the next few nights sleeping, barely sleeping and opting for a park or an open-air square rather than inside a house or building, but the present would be seriously mortgaged if the fear of another quake is not overcome as soon as possible and if it spreads around the world.

The blow of nature is very hard, but in this world with hardly any respite, we have to think about the nearest tomorrow and measure as well as possible the level of alarm that we transmit. Thousands of people visit Morocco every day. Marrakech is the tourist jewel with its Jemaa el Fnaa square, the Koutoubia tower, its extraordinary hotels and the characteristic colour of all the buildings in the city. Now it has started to become a congress centre with the construction of several hotels in a new area. In October, Marrakech is scheduled to host this year's World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings and an international oil and gas summit, among other important events.

The worst effects of the earthquake's fury are currently concentrated in the villages on the edge of the Atlas Mountains. After the COVID, tourism and the activity of an economy that has modernised a key country for Spain and the European Union was recovering. It is hard, but after mourning the enormous damage and helping the victims, one has to think about moving on.