Morocco Savvy

Al Hoceima finally gets an all-year-round ferry connection to Spain - good news for Moroccan expats and road congestion alike.

From early June, a new ferry service will open between Malaga and Al Hoceima. There will be two crossings per day in either direction during the summer, and one per day off-season.

It’s good news for the thousands of Moroccan expats living in Europe, many of whom are from the region around Al Hoceima. A lot of them prefer to bring their car when they return to visit family during the summer.

Until now, they had to use the Malaga to Melilla service, the ferries between Algeciras and Tangier or the seasonal route from Almeria to Al Hoceima. For a lot of Moroccans living in the Malaga region, that meant some considerable detours.

It also meant a lot of extra traffic on the already overstretched summer roads in Morocco. The fact that the roads in the north of the country aren’t exactly highway-style or well-maintained just added to the mayhem that this annual exodus provokes.

Curiously, the name of the company that will run this service hasn’t been mentioned in the news reports. Our bet is on Trasmediterranea - if had been Moroccan ferry operator Comanav, that fact would have been in the headlines.