Elderly French Couple Stranded in Morocco Motorhome Amid COVID-19 Border Closures

The two retirees had left Luzech at the end of January. "We first crossed Spain in a motorhome. At that time, there were very few cases of coronavirus. Then, we spent some time in Morocco until the end of February," Yves Safourcade tells La Dépêche. However, things get complicated afterwards. The boat that was supposed to transport them from Tangier to Spain has been canceled due to the closure of borders.

The couple is finally stuck in a campsite by the sea, two hours’ drive from Tangier, with other motorhome campers estimated at 300, the same source specifies. They all want to return to France and are impatient. "We can’t reach the embassies and consulates. Fortunately, there are other French people in the same situation as us in the campsite. We support each other and help each other," Yves confides.

While some tourists were able to board a boat to return home when ferry cancellations multiplied, this is not the case for the Lot couple. "Some were able to take boats to go home, the British, the Germans and even the French," explains the octogenarian. They are trying their luck again by buying a ticket for 600 € for two, for a Tangier-Genoa scheduled for June 1st.

Meanwhile, their granddaughter Émilie, who is in Montpellier, is worried. "They don’t want to worry us, but we know they’re fed up. They live in a 10m² motorhome; it’s hot. Fortunately, they have air conditioning; but my grandmother has been operated on recently and has to take regular treatment for her eyes," she says.