French Retirees Stranded in Morocco Struggle with Heat and Repatriation Challenges

Monique and Michel Hovart are among the 5,000 motorhome users stranded since the implementation of the state of health emergency and confinement on March 20 in Morocco. The couple finds themselves confined in Taroudant where their motorhome and that of 29 other people, mostly retirees, have been parked. He declares to be "taken hostage", reports Actu.fr.

This retired couple from Marseille is facing two major problems. The first concerns the return tickets by sea, to Algeciras. The prices of the Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) ferry company tickets keep rising while the reservations have been repeatedly canceled. "We had bought one for 640 euros for the May 16 boat that was canceled. We had to add 267 € for the next one, which was also canceled. We are in expectation," explains Michel Hovart.

In addition to the heat, the second difficulty facing the two Marseillais is that they cannot abandon their motorhome on site and return by a flight chartered by the French government. According to them, there is a wind of insecurity blowing on their place of confinement. He mentions for example the assault of one of their friends, the Poitevin, Françoise Merceron. An unbalanced person had attacked the sexagenarian with a knife. After several steps taken by her family, the victim returned to Poitiers via a medical plane.