A press conference was held at the headquarters of the Salé commune on Monday 12 May 2025 to present the first edition of the ‘Hitan’ Festival of Contemporary Urban Art, organised by the said commune in partnership with the Salé Foundation for Culture and the Arts, and supported by the French Institute in Morocco, during the period from 19 to 28 May 2025.

The conference began with a speech by Mr Omar Sentissi, President of the Salé Local Council, in which he emphasised that the organisation of the ‘HITAN’ Festival is part of the implementation of the local authority’s cultural vision and its cultural programme for 2025, which aims to make culture and art a lever for local development and to enhance the city of Salé as a space open to diversity and artistic expression. Mr Sentissi added that the festival aims to beautify the urban space, bring street art closer to the general public outside closed spaces, encourage local creativity through the participation of young Moroccan artists, and strengthen the city’s appeal as a cultural destination at national and international level.

For his part, Mr. Mohamed Lotfi M’rini, president of the Salé Foundation for Culture and Arts, explained that the “HITAN” Festival is an artistic event aimed at transforming public space into a free and shared arena of creative expression. He noted that the foundation launched an international competition to select, for this purpose, the participating artists. The results of this competition allowed for the selection of a group of Moroccan and foreign artists, known for their diverse styles and varied visual languages, who will engage in dialogue with the walls of Salé through works reflecting the richness and diversity of their perspectives.

Mr M’rini also presented the programme for the first edition of the festival, which includes the creation of five individual frescoes in several districts of the city, as well as a large collective fresco involving several young artists. There will also be an exhibition of works entered in the international competition, as well as the presentation of a guide to visual artists from the city of Salé.

The conference -was attended by a large number of media representatives, and a question-and-answer session was held to answer their questions and provide further clarification on this artistic initiative.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, accompanied by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, launched on Wednesday 07 May 2025 in the commune of Ameur (Salé prefecture), the construction of the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region’s essential reserves platform, an embodiment of the Moroccan model of resilience and swift deployment of disaster relief.

By Order of His Majesty the King, each region of the Kingdom will be provided with a large platform of essential reserves (tents, blankets, beds, medicines, foodstuffs, etc.) in order to respond immediately to disasters (floods, earthquakes, chemical, industrial or radiological hazards).

The Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region’s essential reserves platform will be built on a 20-hectare site within 12 months, with a total estimated budget of MAD 287.5 million. The project will mainly include the construction of four warehouses (5,000 m² each), two shelters for oversized equipment (2,500 m² each), a helipad and parking lots.

This regional platform is part of a comprehensive program, presented to His Majesty the King on this occasion, which plans for the construction of twelve platforms at a total cost of around MAD 7 billion, including MAD 2 billion for construction and MAD 5 billion for the purchase of products and equipment.

Mobilizing an estimated total land area of 240 ha, these platforms will house 36 warehouses, distributed according to each region’s population density and its respective risks.

For the six regions of Casablanca-Settat, Rabat-Salé-Kenitra, Marrakech-Safi, Fez-Meknes, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and Souss-Massa, the platforms will comprise four warehouses, each with a total surface area of 20,000 m². Platforms in the other six regions — Eastern region, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Draa-Tafilalet, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab — will include two warehouses, each with a total surface area of 10,000 m².

The products and equipment to be stored in these areas aim to ensure, in the event of a disaster, a swift response to aid affected populations, as well as a prompt and reasonable coverage of needs in terms of rescue, aid and care, in line with His Majesty the King’s proactive Vision.

On this basis, these products and equipment, intended for immediate deployment following the possible occurrence of a natural disaster, cover the following main categories:

– Shelter, with the provision of 200,000 multi-purpose tents and associated equipment (cots, mattresses, blankets …);

– Catering for disaster victims with mobile bakeries and kitchens, as well as food kits to meet the needs of affected families;

– Covering the drinking water and electricity needs of disaster victims by providing water purification and potabilization equipment, as well as electrical power generation using towable generators;

– Developing rescue and response capacities in the occurrence of disaster. This mainly involves building up stocks of flood control equipment, as well as equipment for rescue in case of earthquakes, landslides and mudslides, in addition to equipment to combat chemical, industrial and radiological hazards.

– Healthcare for disaster victims will be provided through setting aside 6 field hospitals, each with 50 beds, as part of a first phase, and six more in a second phase, including emergency operating modules and medical service modules for various specialties. This mobile hospital infrastructure will be enhanced by advanced medical posts for triage and first aid at disaster sites. This will also include provisioning medical supplies reserves to meet the immediate needs of disaster victims.

The storage of food products and medicines will be managed by specialized teams and subject to very strict rules in line with the relevant standards.

The implementation of these platforms will help to develop national emergency infrastructure, improve the overall crisis response system, ensure greater speed in delivering relief and aid to disaster victims, and strengthen Morocco’s resilience against different types of crises.

The comprehensive program to set up regional platforms of essential reserves will also provide strategic reserves to meet the needs met following the Al Haouz earthquake threefold. It will also establish a national ecosystem for the production of equipment and materials required for the immediate deployment of disaster relief operations.

These regional platforms, whose sites have been selected according to safety criteria, have been designed on the basis of an in-depth analysis of each Moroccan region’s needs in terms of the risks involved, backed by a study of best practices and international standards.

According to Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse (07 May 2025)

As part of the pilot phase of the digital platform “ekram.ma” , which aims to manage administrative procedures related to death certificates and burials, the municipality of Salé organized a workshop on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, dedicated to providing technical and practical explanations on the operation of the platform and organizing an interactive simulation to facilitate understanding of its practical use.

The workshop began with a welcoming address by Ms. Latifa Alaoui Mhamdi, Vice President of the Salé Municipal Council, during which she emphasized the importance of this initiative launched by the General Directorate of Local Authorities of the Ministry of the Interior, which represents a pioneering step in supporting digital transformation, consolidating the principles of good governance, and developing administrative services for citizens. She also revealed that the early involvement of the municipality of Salé in this project, which will later be extended nationwide, reflects the municipal council’s commitment to modernizing and simplifying administrative procedures and bringing services closer to citizens. She stated that this digital workshop strengthens the efficiency of the administrative management of structures related to deaths and reflects the special attention the council pays to funeral police, given the humanitarian nature of the tasks associated with it, and out of a desire to preserve the dignity of the deceased and support their families in times of grief, in full compliance with applicable legal procedures. The workshop was attended by representatives of the General Directorate of Local Authorities, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Royal Gendarmerie. Also taking part in this meeting were Mr. El Ayachi Harti, the municipality’s vice-president in charge of health preservation, as well as heads of the administrative services of the municipality of Salé. The meeting was marked by the handover of the necessary electronic equipment to the local teams responsible for managing this service, paving the way for an effective and efficient launch of this pilot phase.

On Friday evening, 21 March 2025, the troupe from the Al-Chamâa Association for Heritage Arts delighted the public at Souk Laghzal in Salé with a ‘Night of Melhoun’, celebrating this ancestral art form and the city’s rich cultural and spiritual heritage.

Organised in partnership with the municipality of Salé and the Salé Foundation for Culture and the Arts, this event is part of the third edition of the « Ramadan nights at Souk Laghzal ».

During the evening, the troupe presented a carefully selected repertoire of Melhoun poems, taking spectators on an authentic and traditional journey to the heart of Morocco’s heritage.

The Night of the Art of Melhoun aims to honour Moroccan creativity in this art form, especially as it has been included on the list of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.

In a joyful and interactive atmosphere, with its distinctive rhythms and dances, the Gnaoui group led by artist Mehdi Qamoum thrilled an audience thirsty for this genre of heritage music derived from folk tales, which invaded the Souk Laghzal square in the old medina on the evening of Thursday 19 Ramadan 1446 (20 March 2025).

The event, organised by the municipality of Salé in partnership with the Salé Foundation for Culture and the Arts, aims to boost the city’s cultural influence and showcase its artistic and cultural heritage.