News
Essaouira news that changes a date, an opening time, a price or an access: festivals announced, openings, closures, works, official decisions. Every article is dated, signed and cites its source. No press release reproduced as is, no rumours.
This section carries the Essaouira news that changes something for a visitor or a resident. For example: a festival date announced, a museum closing or reopening, a street under works, a beach closed to swimming, an official decision about the town. Every article is dated the day it is published, signed and sourced. This page says what you will find in the section, and what you will not.
What counts as news here
Our test is one question: does it change a date, an opening time, a price or an access? If it does, it is news. Take the convention signed in Rabat on 13 April 2026 for the refurbishment and management of the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah Museum. It gives no reopening date, but it matters to anyone wondering when the door on rue Laâlouj will reopen. The museum’s status, hours and prices belong in Museums & galleries. Here we write the news, with its date.
The same split applies to festivals. The announcement of an edition is news: the Gnaoua and World Music Festival has announced its 28th edition for 24 to 26 June 2027 (official site, read on 16 October 2026). The dates, the line-up and the tickets then live in our festival pages. We also cover venues opening and closing, once the doors are actually open or shut. We follow works in the medina and at the port, bus routes and fares that change, and decisions by the commune or the province that touch daily life. Each article carries one or more of seven tags: town, culture, water sports, tourism, practical, food, economy.
The wind is a case apart. We do not publish weather bulletins: the forecasts sit in Weather & wind and update without us. Wind becomes news when it cancels or moves something with a date on it: a competition postponed, a beach closed to swimming, a service suspended.
How we date and source
An article carries two dates, and we keep them apart. The date of the fact: the day of the signing, the opening, the order. The date of publication: the day we write it. When sources disagree on the first, we say so. The museum convention is dated 13 April 2026 in the MAP news agency dispatch. The ministry page that reproduces it is dated 14 April. We give both.
Every article ends with its sources: the official page, the dispatch, the photographed notice, or “seen on site on”, with the date. A figure no source confirms is not published. The article says instead what remains to be confirmed. When a story ages, we add a dated update at the top and the original stays readable below it.
What we will not publish
No press release reproduced as is. A press release is a source: it gives a fact and a date, and we cite it as such. It does not become an article until we have checked what it announces, or said that we could not. No rumours either: a hotel project “said to be planned”, a reopening “announced for soon” with no date and no signatory, wait until they have a source. No breaking-news tone, no traveller reviews presented as facts.
A business that opens, moves or changes its hours can write to us. We check, then publish if it changes something for the reader. We do not run paid articles.
Where the current answer lives
The practical answers do not wait for this section. What is on this week or this month is in the events calendar. The season, temperatures and crowds month by month are in When to visit. Buses from Marrakech, money, SIM cards and safety are in the practical guides. This section says what has changed and points to the page that holds the current answer. New articles also go out in the monthly newsletter, sent on the 1st of the month.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find Essaouira news?
In this section, where every article is dated, signed and sourced, and says what has changed. For what is on this week, see the events calendar, and for wind forecasts, Weather & wind.
What counts as news on essaouira.org?
A dated fact that changes a date, an opening time, a price or an access: a festival edition announced, a venue opening or closing, works, a decision by the commune or the province. A forecast, a review or a project with no date does not qualify.
Do you publish press releases?
Not as they arrive. A press release is a source: we cite it, with its date, in an article that checks what it announces. What we could not verify is not repeated as fact.
Why does an article carry two dates?
The date of the fact is the day of the signing, the opening or the order. The date of publication is the day we write it. When sources disagree on the first, we give both. A dated update is added at the top, and the original stays readable below it.
How do I report news or a mistake?
Write to us through the site’s contact form with the date, the place and, if you can, a photo of the notice. We check before publishing, and a correction is added at the top of the article with its date.