Sep 13, 2023 at 5:07 AM Update: 14 minutes ago
Less than a week after the earthquake, Marrakech is trying to resume normal life. Many tourists have gone home or are not coming and the city seems much quieter than usual. Yet new holidaymakers continue to arrive. Nice, despite everything, many residents think.
At the exit of the terminal at Marrakech airport, travelers and their relatives fall into each other’s arms, crying. A young woman clings to a much older man. He struggles to keep them upright when her knees buckle and she hangs on him with her full weight. Their whole bodies shake and their words are lost in sobs. This is clearly not just an emotional reunion, it is shared, deep grief.
20 meters away, people wait their turn to buy a taxi ticket at a kiosk. When the reporters from NU.nl have obtained it, the woman standing behind them says cheerfully and in Dutch: “Have a nice holiday!”
Planes departing from Marrakech are full of tourists who experienced last Friday’s earthquake and the aftershock on Sunday and want to get home as quickly as possible. Ticket prices have risen sharply in recent days.
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‘The worst seems to be behind us’
At the same time, new holidaymakers are still arriving. Like 32-year-old Lukas from Freiburg, Germany, who arrived on Monday with his parents. They had already completed a tour of other parts of Morocco and Marrakesh was the next stop.
“We hoped that the worst was behind us here in the city. That seems to be the case. Many people here earn their money from tourists, so it doesn’t benefit anyone at all if we decide not to come anymore.”
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‘Don’t get in the way of the idea’
John Hewett (69), a retired engineer from Leeds, England, and his wife Corinne (67) also arrived on Monday. They are waiting in front of their hotel on Tuesday morning for the bus that will pick them up for a tour of the city. “We thought about not going for a while,” says John. “But we had already booked this holiday in January and probably wouldn’t get our money back.”
“According to the travel organization, our holiday could continue as usual. We saw on the news that large parts of Marrakesh survived the earthquake well and we didn’t think we would get in the way, so we just went.”
Indeed, in the modern part of Marrakesh, where the Hewetts’ hotel is located, few traces of the quake are visible. That is different in the medina, the old city. At first glance, the terraces on the famous square Jemaa el-Fnaa are still fairly well occupied, but that is already a contrast compared to the chaotic bustle that normally characterizes this place.
The battered facade of a mosque in Marrakesh. Photo: Matthijs le Loux
Frayed collection of bricks
In a corner of the square, only a frayed collection of bricks, sticking up like broken teeth, reminds us of the beautiful tower of a small, old mosque that stood here last week. The prayer house was a popular place to pray for the hundreds of market traders and shop owners who work in the medina.
The centuries-old sandstone walls that surround the old city are also cracked or partially crumbled in many places. In the narrow streets and alleys that wind through the medina, there are piles of rubble everywhere and buildings are cordoned off or fenced off due to the risk of collapse. The residents remain busy clearing rubble and cleaning until late at night.
An older man and his son empty a small shop. Wall shelves that previously held jars of herbs and spices hang askew and the floor is littered with merchandise. A neighbor walks by and points to the ceiling, which is leaning dangerously. “Now be careful!” he says. The owner shrugs and grabs a new garbage bag.
A lot of rubble is being cleared from the street. Photo: Matthijs le Loux
‘At least another month in shock’
“The residents of Marrakech will be in shock for at least another month,” says hotel owner Hamid (45). “We still hope that the tourists will return soon, because I have a family to support.”
His hotel looks like a traditional courtyard, hidden in an alley and behind a door decorated with wood carvings that gives little away of the oasis of cool and tranquility that lies behind it. Of the rooms, which would normally all be occupied for the rest of the month, half remain empty.
Hamid: “After the corona pandemic we had one good year, and now we get this.” The bookings for October look slightly better, but they are still a quarter fewer than he would expect in better times.
“Marrakesh is also called the city of smiles,” says clothing seller Mustafa (64) when asked if he has a message for people who are unsure about their holiday plans in his city. “That smile is a bit weaker now, because we are sad. God willing, his strength will return soon. But if the tourists don’t come back, Marrakech will be a dead city.”
Matthijs le Loux is a foreign reporter for NU.nl
Matthijs follows major international news events for NU.nl, such as the war in Ukraine and the American elections. He is currently in Morocco with our camera journalist Bas Scharwachter to report on the earthquake.
2023-09-13 03:07:00
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