Morocco Considers Easing Hotel Restrictions for Unmarried Couples

In Morocco, only married couples are allowed to share a hotel room, with the marriage certificate serving as proof. Unmarried couples who violate this prescription face a one-year prison sentence for sexual relations outside of marriage (Article 490 of the Penal Code). Moroccan Tourism Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor announced last week that she has initiated negotiations with her counterparts from the Interior and Justice ministries to "lift certain restrictions that prevent unmarried couples from sharing a hotel room," reports the daily Assabah.

These restrictions "push many people to opt for tourist destinations like Turkey or Europe," the minister points out. Following royal instructions, the Akhannouch government is determined to reform the Moroccan Penal Code, which dates back to 1961, and to decriminalize sexual relations outside of marriage between people of the same sex. In his Throne Speech last year, King Mohammed VI announced a reform of the Family Code or Moudawana. A year later, this reform has remained a dead letter due to conservatives and Islamists, including the Justice and Development Party (PJD), who are fiercely opposed to the revision of this text.

Responding on Monday to questions from a Socialist deputy, Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi recalled that only the king, in his capacity as Commander of the Faithful, "has the authority to launch the parliamentary debate" on this issue. Meanwhile, several unmarried Moroccan couples prefer to avoid hotels and rent discreet apartments for their getaways. Access to hotels for unmarried couples is "a matter of fundamental freedoms," Othman Cherif Alani, former director of the National Tourism Federation, declared to TelQuel in early July.

The Ministry of Tourism is working to lift these restrictions "that hinder the development of tourism," he added. Morocco is engaged in a dynamic of "decriminalization of these behaviors," the Ministry of Justice has assured. So, to unmarried couples planning to visit Morocco, they may find themselves in prison if one of the partners is of Moroccan origin, even if they hold a European passport, warn recommendation sites.