ssaouira has just entered the map of Moroccan high-speed rail. Signed on September 1, 2026 by head of government Aziz Akhannouch, Decree no. 2.26.605 declares the public utility of building a high-speed line between Marrakech and Agadir on the one hand, and between Chichaoua and Essaouira on the other.
The decree builds nothing: it opens the land acquisitions and, where needed, the expropriations required along the route. It is nonetheless the act by which a long-announced service becomes a drawn and enforceable right of way.
Essaouira had until now been no more than a hypothesis grafted onto the Marrakech-Agadir project. Here it is in the body of a regulatory text, with Chichaoua as its junction.
From land surveys to the first spade, the distance remains long, but the kingdom would have, on that first of September, stopped talking about a route and begun buying its ground.
Photo: إيان, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Secrétariat général du gouvernement - Bulletin officiel n° 7541, décret n° 2.26.605 du 19 rabii I 1448 (1er septembre 2026)
