Morocco drafts strategy to prevent building collapses
Morocco is preparing a 2027-2030 national strategy to prevent building-related risks, as 53,728 buildings nationwide are at risk of collapse.
Morocco's government is preparing a national strategy to prevent building-related risks, aiming to stop the recurrence of tragedies that have killed and injured dozens of people in recent years, according to the Al3omk news website.
According to the 2027 work programme of the Strategy and Financing Directorate at the Ministry of National Land Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy, the ministry will dedicate a project to producing a unified national diagnosis of building-related risks across the Kingdom's regions, as a first step toward a national strategy setting out the main directions for preventive action, aimed at reducing the risk of collapse of unauthorized or ageing buildings and strengthening residents' safety.
This project is part of a broader study the ministry intends to launch for an integrated strategy with a 2030 horizon, whose first phase, in 2027, will include a multidimensional sector diagnosis and an evaluation of existing policies and programmes. The programme also covers tracking and speeding up regional housing plans, studying the possibility of a national real-estate plan, digitising property archives, and setting up a national geographic information system for housing.
53,000 buildings at risk of collapse nationwide
The move comes amid growing concern over repeated building collapses: Secretary of State for Housing Adib Ben Ibrahim told the House of Representatives that 53,728 buildings across Morocco are at risk of collapse, of which only about 28,000 have undergone a technical inspection, according to the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website. Most of these buildings are concentrated in old medinas marked by long-standing structural fragility.
Morocco has seen several tragic building collapses in recent months that revived the debate over residents' safety:
| City | Date | Toll |
|---|---|---|
| Fez | 21 May 2026 | 15 killed, 5 injured |
| Tetouan | 18 April 2026 | 2 children killed (building housed 5 families) |
| Rabat (Akkari district) | 5 January 2026 | 2 killed, 4 injured |
| Essaouira (Mellah) | 3 January 2026 | a woman and her infant killed |
| Safi (Bayada) | 4 January 2026 | no deaths recorded |
Mohamed Rachid Chriati, head of the executive office of the National Association for the Defense of Human Rights, said "every threatened building could cause a human tragedy," adding that "the biggest challenge is not diagnosing the problem" but speeding up intervention and securing the funding needed to repair threatened buildings or rehouse their residents. He recommended classifying each building's risk level through periodic technical inspections, offering temporary or permanent rehousing to evacuated families, and funding repair and reinforcement work through support funds or low-interest loans.
Handling the issue remains complex in cities such as Tetouan, Essaouira and Fez, where authorities must balance preserving the historic urban fabric of old medinas with protecting residents' safety, as some affected residents refuse to leave their homes for lack of a suitable alternative.