Posted on by AP

In pictures: Pandemic empties Moroccan tourist town

Chefchaouen, known as the blue pearl of Morocco, the photogenic and mountainous town is usually overcrowded with tourists but has been deserted this year due to the pandemic. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
Two men sit overlooking the town of Chefchaouen, northern Morocco. As the North African nation cautiously reopens and tries to resuscitate its struggling economy, Chefchaouen stands subdued, deserted by the tourists that have long been its lifeblood. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
During the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the majority of the city’s visitors were local tourists instead of the European and Chinese visitors who usually throng the narrow streets. Shop owners who typically sell rugs, woollen coats and souvenirs struggled to find clients. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
Shop owners selling souvenirs wait for customers in an alleyway in Chefchaouen that stands subdued, deserted by the tourists. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
People leave a mosque after performing the last prayers of the day, as night curfew comes to effect in Chefchaouen. When COVID-19 hit Morocco, the mountainous town of was one of the few that registered no cases. The picturesque town, its facades painted in distinctive hues of blue, shut its small population off from the world and kept the virus out for months. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
A street dog stands on a ledge usually filled with tourists who come to observe the sunset in Chefchaouen. The town’s brilliant blue alleyways, sweeping mountainous landscape and hiking trails have long attracted tourists, especially from Spain and China, whose citizens enjoy visa-free travel to Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
People are silhouetted as they climb a hill to catch a sunset view of Chefchaouen. The absence of tourists posing for photos beside its iconic carved doors and distinctive stairs seemed to liberate one of the most photographed spots in Morocco, giving its residents a chance to slow down and absorb the quiet beauty of their own town. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)