COVER N. 773 - MOROCCO

Postmark: Premier Jour d'émission Meknès CD  29.07.2026/ Meknès C.D 15.09.2026 

Posted on 15th September;  Received on the 30th September 2026

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The second Moroccan FDC I got on the same day. Encore merci, Pierre, pour ce pli fantastique.

Morocco and Mauritania, before independence both French administered territories in the North of Africa, first established formal diplomatic relations in 1970. These, notwithstanding, would be severed in 1981 after an attempted coup d'état that occurred in Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital, against the government of Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, who would  accuse Morocco of instigating it.

At the core of the disputes between the two countries was the territory of the  former Spanish Colony of Western Sahara, which Spain  ceased to lay claim to in 1975. In the wake of Spain's decision both countries claimed rights to the territory and invaded it.

Meanwhile in 1973 an independentist movement - the Polisario Front - had been established in Western Sahara with the aim of achieving independence from Spain by political action and also armed struggle. When Spain left the territory, the military effort of the independentists was redirected against the occupying Moroccan and Mauritanian forces.

Mauritania would eventually abandon its claim to the territory, in 1979, recognising, in February 1984,  the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), established in 1976, and its founder, the Polisario Front, as the legitimate representative of the Saharawi people, a position also sustained by the United Nations. 

Morocco would go on to this day without recognising the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and at present a state of low intensity warfare remains, with armed actions from both sides occasionally taking place.

With Mauritania abandoning its claim to the Sahrawi territory and an internal coup in December 1984 that overthrew the pro-Polisario president of the country, the door was opened to the reestablishment of relations with its neighbour Morocco, what would formally take place in April 1985.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the re-establishment of formal diplomatic relations, the postal administrations of Morocco and Mauritania launched a common stamp issue, comprising two stamps. (I have found no information regarding the Mauritanian issue)

The Moroccan issue, dated of 29JUL2026, is featured on the official First Day Cover that Pierre sent me.

It consists of two stamps with face values of 4.10 and 9,80 Dirham,  illustrated with images of the Ancient Mosque of Chinguetti in Mauritania and the Fort of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco, respectively.

Both structures are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Chinguetti Mosque (constructed of split stone and clay with a roof of palm beams on stone piers) dates from the 13th or 14th centuries, and is located in the Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata, in the Adar region of Mauritania.

The  Fort of Ait-Ben-Haddou, dating from the 11th century, is constructed in earthen clay, and is located in the Ouarzazate Province of Morocco, in the ancient route between the Sahara and Marakesh.

I had the opportunity to visit it in 2023 and seeing it on a stamp prompted me to go take a look at my photos.... always a pleasure remembering places we've been to....