Moroccan Diaspora Outraged: Soaring Travel Costs Mar Annual Homecoming

Moroccans who have come from Italy, Germany, France and elsewhere accuse the airline and shipping companies, including Royal Air Maroc and Balearia, of "automatically raising prices as soon as demand increases, without taking into account the economic situation of Moroccans living abroad." They particularly reproach Balearia, the main operator of maritime links between Spain and Morocco, for "taking advantage of the seasonal situation to reap profits at the expense of the suffering of the diaspora."

According to the testimony of affected individuals, the company imposes exorbitant rates on them, without any control or consideration for the social and national dimension of the trips that connect them to their homeland. Faced with this situation, they call on the Moroccan government to act urgently to "put an end to this seasonal surge in prices." They also accuse the Ministry of Tourism of "boasting each summer of the number of Moroccans in the world arriving in the country, without paying attention to the difficulties they encounter in coming."