Sand Encroachment Threatens Essaouira: Residents Call for Urgent Action to Protect the City
The city of Essaouira is facing an escalating environmental threat due to sand encroachment that is endangering its neighborhoods, streets, and alleys, amid silence from authorities and neglect of urgent preventive programs.
With the arrival of summer, residents of the old city and other areas woke up to a different scene. Sand has engulfed the alleyways and squares, closing shop doors and obstructing the view from home windows. What was once an exceptional situation due to northerly winds has become a daily reality, worsening with the ongoing absence of field interventions.
There are widespread fears among residents that this scene could become a permanent situation, deepening the city’s vulnerability and impacting its tourism and cultural appeal. Fatima, a resident of the old city, stated that she can only see sand dunes accumulating daily from her window, adding that Essaouira, previously vibrant with life, has become almost paralyzed due to this silent invasion.
Children are facing difficulties commuting to schools, and shopkeepers are lamenting repeated losses due to the challenges of accessing their stores, as alleyways become blocked with sand. Meanwhile, local authorities have merely observed the situation without launching a clear emergency program to protect the city.
Several local stakeholders and environmental advocates argue that what is happening in Essaouira results from a lack of comprehensive vision to tackle the effects of climate change. They emphasize that the danger lies not only in the winds but also in inadequate protective infrastructure and the absence of urban planning adapted to the city’s specificities.
Community representatives stressed that the solution does not lie in seasonal campaigns to remove sand but in adopting a sustainable approach based on afforestation, creating natural sand barriers, and rehabilitating urban areas to protect the city from erosion and desertification.
While awaiting a response from authorities to the residents’ and civil society’s calls for action, the sight of encroaching sands remains a troubling environmental reality that could cost Essaouira its identity if silence and neglect persist.
