Morocco will turn its clocks back permanently on September 20, Head of government Aziz Akhannouch announced Thursday, ending an eight-year experiment with year-round GMT+1.
The decision is the latest in a series of reversals that have left Moroccans changing their clocks several times over the last decades.
Why the government can change the time
The government could make the change without passing a new law because GMT is already Morocco’s legal reference. A royal decree issued in 1967 established Greenwich Mean Time as the national clock but authorised the government to add 60 minutes when it considered that necessary.
The 2018 government used that authority to make the additional hour permanent. Akhannouch’s cabinet has now used the same route in reverse: it adopted Decree 2.26.530, which removes the added hour and restores the underlying GMT rule.
The decree settles the current policy, although the 1967 framework still gives future governments the legal power to introduce seasonal adjustments.
1913-1950: Time as a wartime and energy tool
Official time first became a matter of state regulation under the French protectorate, which placed Morocco on GMT in 1913.
The first additional hour arrived in May 1918, as World War I pushed governments to reorganise working hours and conserve resources. Similar wartime changes returned in 1939 and 1940 before GMT was restored after World War II.
In 1950, the reason was build around drought. Poor rainfall had reduced hydroelectric production, and the protectorate administration advanced the clock so households and businesses would use more daylight in the evening and less electricity.
1967-1978: Morocco takes control of legal time
After independence, King Hassan II replaced the colonial rules with the 1967 decree that still underpins the system today.
Morocco used summer time in 1967, again in 1974 and from 1976 to 1978. The changes remained temporary, with clocks being moved forward during part of the year and returned to GMT afterwards.
When the final experiment ended in August 1978, Morocco stayed continuously on GMT for almost three decades.
2008-2017: Europe pulls the clock forward
Summer time returned under Head of government Abbas El Fassi in 2008. This time the government’s argument combined electricity savings with economics. Moving forward by one hour narrowed the working-time difference with France, Spain and other major European trading partners, allowing offices, banks and companies to share more of the business day.
The system was initially improvised, with dates sometimes changed at short notice. Abdelilah Benkirane’s government introduced a more regular calendar in 2012, and Morocco would return to GMT during the fasting month, advance the clock again afterwards, and then move it back in autumn. Depending on the calendar, citizens could reset their clocks four times in a single year.
2018-2026: Summer time without winter time
Saad Eddine El Othmani’s government tried to end that disruption in October 2018 by keeping GMT+1 permanently.
The decision came only two days before the expected return to GMT. Officials argued that it would conserve energy, improve productivity and maintain closer business hours with Europe. Student demonstrations followed, schools adjusted timetables and families complained that the state had aligned offices with Europe at the expense of Morocco’s morning rhythm.
Akhannouch’s decision will put Morocco one hour behind Spain for part of the year, a concrete change for Moroccan workers in remote employment calibrated to European hours, and for the aviation and logistics sectors whose scheduling is aligned to GMT+1 counterparts.
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