What do Spanish travellers need to know about Morocco?

For Spanish travellers, Morocco is practically a neighbour, and the entry side could hardly be simpler: Spanish passport holders enter visa-free for stays of up to 90 days, needing only a passport valid the standard period beyond arrival with blank pages for the stamp. You fill in a short arrival card and get a stamp at immigration. As ever, I tell my Spanish guests to glance at the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores travel advice (the official 'Recomendaciones de viaje') for Morocco before booking, since that's the source kept current with any change — treat this answer as a prompt to verify, not the final word.

Getting there is Spain's great advantage. You can fly direct in barely over an hour from Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga or Seville into Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes, Tangier and Nador, on Royal Air Maroc, Iberia, Air Europa, Ryanair and Vueling. But the option no other nationality really has is the sea: fast ferries cross from Algeciras and Tarifa to Tangier in roughly an hour (Tarifa lands you right in Tangier Med or the old port), and from Algeciras to Ceuta too, so you can drive your own car down and roll onto a boat. For a quick first taste of Morocco, the Tarifa–Tangier crossing is one of the most romantic short hops in the Mediterranean.

On money, the dirham is a closed currency you can't buy at home, so don't try — withdraw it from ATMs once you arrive. Land with a small float of euros as a backup, then draw dirhams from a bank machine at the airport or in town for a far better rate than the exchange booths. Spanish Visa and Mastercard cards work well in city hotels, restaurants and larger shops, and contactless is common — choose a card with sensible foreign-transaction terms. As everywhere in Morocco, the desert, the mountains and the souks deal in cash, so keep small dirham notes for taxis, tips and stalls.

Culturally, Spaniards settle in fast, and the north holds a special bonus: Spanish is genuinely useful there. The former Spanish Protectorate left its mark across Tangier, Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Nador and the Rif, where many older Moroccans and shopkeepers still speak fluent Spanish — far more so than French in those towns. Elsewhere, French and Arabic dominate, with English in hotels, so a few words of either help further south. Tipping is customary but modest, the lively bargaining of the souks will feel familiar from any Andalusian market, and dress is a touch more modest away from the resorts. Accept the mint tea, take the relaxed pace in stride, and Morocco rewards you richly just across the strait.