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Morocco declares Amazigh New Year an official holiday, a victory for Berbers

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The Berber community in Morocco has been demanding greater cultural recognition for decades. Here, Amazigh men and women take part in traditional festivities near the village of Imilchil, in the Atlas Heights, on September 21, 2019. (illustration) © Fadel Senna / AFP

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In a further step for the recognition of the Berber community in Morocco, the Amazigh New Year is now an official and paid national holiday in Morocco, in a decision taken by King Mohamed VI on Thursday, May 4. The Berber New Year, Yennayer, is celebrated every year on January 13, but it was not officially recognized until then.

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With our correspondent in Rabat, Nadia Ben Mahfoudh

Activists have been calling for this decision for years: in a country with the largest Berber community in North Africa, making Yennayer a paid national holiday is "the culmination of a long struggle," said Adil Adaskou, president of the Tamesna Amazigh youth association:

« It has been seen that the festivities for the Amazigh New Year take place throughout the kingdom. It is therefore normal for the royal institution to make this decision. Even though we had to wait a long time before it was taken. And this is a historic decision, it proves that the trajectory of policies in our country has changed. »

According to the last census of 2014, a quarter of the Moroccan population speaks Tamazight, the Berber language. This figure is disputed by activists, who estimate that nearly half of the population speaks the language.

In 2011, Tamazight was enshrined in the Constitution as an official language, but it was not until 2019 that a law formalizing the language was adopted. Since then, it has been taught in many schools in the kingdom and the recognition of the Berber community and its culture as an essential component of Moroccan identity has further accelerated in 2021: Aziz Akhannouch, head of government of Berber origin, then took office.

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The question remains " of "the absorption capacity of the Amazigh faith

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In January 2023, the Amazigh language became a condition for granting Moroccan nationality in the same way as Arabic. This year's budget allocates 300 million dirhams to improve the visibility and presence of the Tamazight language in the public space.

For Mustapha Sehimi, a Moroccan political scientist and professor of law at Mohammed V University in Rabat, this decision is more than a symbolic act: "It is a process that I would call the patrimonialization of Moroccan culture and Moroccan identity. There remains the last question: the capacity of absorption of the Amazigh faith in social life and civic life. This is a challenge that I believe arises for all Moroccan citizens.

Amazigh associations are now looking forward to next year's festivities.

► Read also: Berbers around the world celebrate Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year

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• Morocco
• Culture
• Mohammed VI