Extreme Heatwave Hits Marrakech: Tourists Face 122°F Temperatures

"We arrived yesterday (Saturday) in Marrakech and when we went out into the street, the heat was intense. People are suffocating in the street because there is no shade to protect themselves from the sun. We had to soak our hats in water before putting them on," Pepe Rodríguez, who has come to spend a week’s vacation in the ochre city with his brother, tells Heraldo.

The Directorate General of Meteorology warned on Saturday of a heatwave with sandstorms in the south of the kingdom and record temperatures in cities like Agadir, which recorded 50.4 degrees for the first time. "I don’t know if it will be 50 degrees, but it’s certainly over 40 degrees and the locals tell us that a few days ago it was 53 degrees in Marrakech," the tourist adds.

With this heatwave, the two brothers cannot have a good time during the day, as they did in the coastal city of Essaouira where the weather was more pleasant. "We didn’t exceed 21 degrees, it was even cold at night and we had to sleep with a blanket," Rodriguez says, surprised by the temperature change between two cities less than three hours’ drive apart.

However, the two brothers say they are not very surprised by the heatwave. "In all the travel blogs we consulted, we were advised not to visit Morocco between July and August," explains Rodriguez, who plans to go to Rabat with his brother after the Marrakech stop. "We checked the weather and the maximum temperature is 29 degrees, so we’ll be relieved once we’re there," he hopes.