Middle East&AfricaPrudery in MoroccoGet two roomsHoteliers are backing Moroccans who want to legalise sex before marriageIT IS BAD enough that the pandemic cut the number of foreign tourists by 80%; to make matters even worse, Morocco's ban on extramarital sex is stifling the domestic market in hotel beds.Unmarried couples caught in the same room are liable to jail terms of up to a year under Article 490 of the penal code.Each week the police check hotel records to uphold the law.Receptionists-turned-private detectives require verification of marriage certificates before handing over the keys."I get more calls from unmarried couples wanting to stay than anyone else," says Meryem Zniber, who runs a resort in the Rif mountains. "I could fill my hotel 100% if only they'd lift the law."Hopes of change rose after the Islamist party heading the government crashed in elections in September, losing 90% of its seats.For a decade its leaders had squelched any policy deemed haram, or contrary to Islamic law.Aziz Akhannouch, the new prime minister, sounds more liberal.
