Morocco : Practical information
Electricity
220 volts everywhere.
Local time in Morocco
Morocco follows Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) all year round. When it is noon in Morocco, it is 1 p.m. in Paris in winter and 2 p.m. in summer.
Opening hours
Although Muslim, Morocco has modelled its working week on the West: Monday to Friday. Administrations are open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. On Fridays, the lunch break runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for prayer. Museums follow the same schedules, but most are closed on Tuesdays. Shops usually open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a two-hour break during the day. Some close on Fridays, others on Sundays. All these times are changed during Ramadan, but without fixed rules.
Tourist information
The Moroccan National Tourist Office has set up a network of offices throughout the country. The quality of information varies greatly from one office to another.
Moroccan media
There is a French-language press. Most dailies are affiliated with a political group. French newspapers arrive in major cities the same day or the day after they are published. Radio stations broadcast in Arabic and French. Radio France International is received without too much difficulty throughout the country, on short waves. The roofs of the houses are bristling with parabolas that make it possible to receive, in addition to the two government channels (the second, 2M, presents programs in French), foreign stations, especially French (TV5, Arte and Euronews).
Post and Communications
The postage of the letters for France costs 4.50 DH. Count a week to ten days for France. Outside hotels, which practice prohibitive rates, you can call, with 5 dirham coins or phone cards, in teleshops, private telecommunications shops. To call France, dial 00 33 followed by the number without 0.
Tip
It is due to anyone who does you a service, no matter how small: the child who guides you to the gates of the medina, the man who guards your car, the one who mounts your suitcase in your hotel room… In restaurants, it is customary to leave 10% of the total bill.
Security in Morocco
Overall, the country has few problems with violence. Do not tempt the devil by displaying ostentatious signs of wealth and avoid walking alone at night in the medinas of large cities. Be careful in the Rif: hashish sellers are sometimes aggressive. In case of emergency, dial 19 for the police or 15 for the firefighters.