The designers of the purpose-built Moroccan resort, Mediterrania Saidia, are pleasantly surprised to discover that the marina needs extending even before they’ve finished building it. The marina was over-subscribed from the day it was officially announced and the existing 840 berths will now be expanded to over a thousand.

Each of the additional berths at Mediterrania Saidia will be more than forty foot long and also create space for more commercial areas, a sports club and extra parking spaces. The marina is the hub of the seven million square meter resort which includes restaurants with sunny pavement terraces, bars, a traditional souk, designer boutiques, high street fashion stores, a medical centre and discotheque.

In July 2002, Morocco called a tender to select local and foreign partners to develop five seaside tourist resorts for a budget of $4.2 billion in a drive to attract 10 million foreign tourists by the year 2010.

The Moroccan government is scrambling to provide the necessary infrastructure projects it promised as part of the deal.

A privately owned Spanish company has signed a $1.62 billion agreement with the government of Morocco to develop one of the tourist resorts on the country’s Mediterranean coast.

Mediterrania Saidia Maroc is located along a 3.8 mile stretch of beach in eastern Morocco between Algeria and Spain’s Melilla. When complete, the resort will contain 8 hotels, 3 golf courses, a port, a medical centre and a huge commercial/shopping centre. Particular attention has been paid to maintain green spaces, one of the government’s high priorities. The Mediterrania Saidia resort will have 6 hotels, a luxury 5-star hotel, two 5-star hotels and three 4-star hotels with a massive capacity of 5,354. There are also 22 plots of land on which to develop tourist accommodation units and holiday villas, allowing an opportunity for 10,378 beds.