In Morocco, it is now possible for unmarried couples to sleep together in hotels, according to a measure announced by the Minister of Justice. However, the Moroccan penal code still prohibits sexual intercourse out of wedlock. Unmarried Moroccan couples can now book a hotel room without showing their marriage certificate.
Moreover, single women are also no longer prohibited from renting a hotel room in their city of residence. Hotel owners have been applying these two restrictions for decades. What is the legal basis for this demand? The rule imposed on and enforced by hoteliers had no legal basis; it was transmitted only orally.
Consequently, the regulation was rescinded in the same way as it was transmitted, with some hoteliers reporting that they had received a call from the police to inform them of the change in regulations. In Agadir, the intelligence services visited each hotel to inform staff. The bans were intended to prevent sexual relations outside marriage, which are punishable by imprisonment in Morocco under controversial article of the penal code.
On social media, Moroccan internet users appear divided. The most conservative voices lament that lifting the ban threatens public moral order by enabling young people to have sex outside of marriage and facilitating prostitution. The minister can also be criticized for modernizing the country by westernizing it without respecting the conservatism of the country.
And yet, relationships outside marriage are more common in this conservative Muslim society. Progressives argue that the requirement to present a marriage certificate was a rule applied only to Moroccans and rarely to tourists, noting that there are numerous ways to circumvent the rule and share the same room regardless.
