Morocco Denies Entry to Italian Journalist, Forcing Family Vacation Cancellation

Luigi Pelazza, the envoy of Iene d’Italia Uno, is persona non grata in Morocco. On vacation with his family and other friends, he left Spain and found himself at the border with Morocco last week like an ordinary tourist, with a camper van and suitcases. He then boarded the ferry in Tarifa to reach Tangier, but he will not reach his destination. After checking his passport, the Moroccan port authorities expelled him. He was forced to take his camper van and return to Spain. The reason for this expulsion? His name is on a blacklist of the Moroccan authorities due to a report filmed in 2017 on the prostitution of minors in Marrakech.

Pelazza thought this case was behind him. He contacts the Italian ambassador in Rabat, Armando Barucco, and discovers that reconciling with Morocco implies that he should write a letter of apology to King Mohammed VI. Only the sovereign can rehabilitate him. "The ambassador tried to explain to the local authorities that it was a journalistic report and that there was no intention to harm the image of the country. I thought this story was over in 2017 when, during the report, we were arrested by the police and expelled after the seizure of part of the recorded material," the Italian journalist is surprised. And to add: "Now I will have to understand what I have to write to the king, how I will have to apologize, because my only wish is to go on vacation in Morocco".