Eight years ago Morocco embraced Central European Time. Now you’ve decided it’s time to change.

September 20, 2026 will be an important day in Morocco. Or rather, an important early morning. With the last blows of summer, the Maghreb country wants to apply a major change in an aspect that affects its close ties. 37 million inhabitantsbeyond your age, gender, profession or wealth: the schedule. The nation will abandon the GMT+1 to return to GMT. It may seem like a minor issue, but it has been starring for years an intense debate.

In practice it also means move away (at the time level) of Europe.

What has happened? That Morocco has decided that next September will mean more than just the end of summer. It will also mean goodbye to GMT+1the time that is one hour ahead of the Greenwich meridian, the same one used by peninsular Spain during winter time. The executive headed by Aziz Achanuch has decided that at the end of summer it will return to GMT. The change will be made at 02.00 on Sunday the 20th of September.

What hours do you have now? At the end of the 1960s Morocco established the legal time GMT, but in the last decade it progressively adopted the use of GTM+1. That change occurred an acceleration in 2018, when it was decided to establish it definitively, eliminating the return to the GMT. At that time, Moroccans stopped having to manipulate the hands of their clocks depending on the season they were in.

There was only an exception: Ramadan. During those weeks (the dates depend on the lunar calendar) the population switched to GMT time to make life more bearable in a period marked by fasting and prayer. As explains Juan Carlos Sanz in The Countrythis year the hands were moved back one hour between February 15 and March 22, which in practice advanced he iftarthe food that breaks the daily fast, and prolong the rest.

And why do they go to GMT? In words of the Government, to meet “citizens’ expectations” and “solve the problems associated with the early schedule.” The return to GMt+1 after Ramadan is supported by several government decrees, but that does not mean that it convinces Moroccans.

The reason: the mismatches between the official schedule, the bands in which there is daylight and the biorhythms of the population. For example, it is said that the GMT zone prevents it from being nighttime when children go to school in winter.

Is it that important? Yes. In April Watchtower public a chronicle in which he talked about how a collection of signatures against the GMT+1 had achieved the support of 300,000 people, a considerable number in a country of 37 million of people. The same medium cited a survey, carried out in 2025, in which the majority desire to establish the GMT is expressed with percentages.

According to the survey, 43% of Moroccans are against GMT+1, which only convinces 28%. 40% also affirm that it is negative for their daily life.

Why did they adopt it then? Because GMT+1 also has its advantages, although they may not be as noticeable in the daily routine of Moroccans. His defenders they talk of energy efficiency and competitiveness and recall a 2019 study that estimated a saving of 37.6 GWh in electricity during the winter, which resulted in fewer CO2 emissions and fuel costs.

Are there more reasons? Yes. Another key reason is that the GMT improves Morocco’s synchronization with its major European economic allies, France and Spain. That Rabat joining GMT+1 meant that for a good part of the year, from october to marchthe Moroccan capital shares the same time as Madrid, Paris and Berlin. The rest of the year the difference was only one hour, like Lisbon or London. The change will mean moving Morocco away from that harmony, leaving an hour of lag in winter and two during summer.

Images | Raúl Mermans García (Unsplash) and Mari Helin (Unsplash)

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