Morocco’s definitive return to GMT does not only concern clocks. Microsoft, IBM and Broadcom had to update their systems to avoid programming errors or computer tasks being triggered at the wrong time.
Morocco will permanently change its time zone overnight from Saturday to Sunday. At 2 a.m., clocks will be turned back by 60 minutes. The kingdom will then remain on GMT all year round, with no further change during Ramadan.
In just over two weeks, Morocco will turn its clocks back one last time. On Sunday, September 20, at 2 a.m., it will once again be 1 a.m. The Kingdom will then definitively leave GMT+1 and return to GMT.
Morocco’s return to GMT will create an unprecedented time gap with Spain during summer. Between Tarifa and Tangier, a crossing of approximately one hour could display an arrival earlier than departure, which is bound to surprise many travelers.
The Moroccan union of café and restaurant owners has officially demanded that the Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, abolish the GMT+1 time zone. This request highlights the adverse economic and social repercussions of this additional hour.
Morocco is preparing to change its legal time tonight. At two o’clock in the morning this Sunday, the clocks will have to be advanced by sixty minutes to display three o’clock, marking the official return to the GMT+1 time zone .
Keeping summer time (GMT+1) all year round in Morocco has revived the winter debate. While the government prioritizes economic considerations, specialists highlight the harmful effects of this schedule on students’ biological rhythms.
Morocco will return to legal GMT time next Sunday for the duration of the holy month of Ramadan . Clocks will be set back by sixty minutes during the night of February 14–15 to adapt social schedules to fasting.
Morocco is preparing to switch back to standard time on Sunday, February 15, 2026, in the approach to the month of Ramadan expected around February 19. This readjustment aims to harmonize the daily lives of Moroccans with the spiritual and social imperatives of the sacred month.
Six years after its adoption, the maintenance of the GMT+1 all year round in Morocco continues to generate lively debate. As winter sets in, criticism is resurfacing on social networks, pointing to the inconveniences of a shifted daily routine, particularly the dark mornings for schoolchildren.
The winter time change of 2024 is approaching, and this year again, Morocco is going it alone. While France and the rest of Europe will turn their clocks back an hour in the night of Saturday, October 26 to Sunday, October 27, the kingdom will maintain summer time (GMT+1).
As Ramadan is coming to an end, Morocco is once again preparing to change the time to switch back to GMT+1. A change that is increasingly unpopular in the country.