On Thursday, 27 February 2025, the headquarters of the Prefecture of the Province of Tétouan hosted the twentieth session of the Board of Directors of the Urban Agency of Tétouan, chaired by the Secretary General, representing the President of the Board of Directors, the Minister of National Territorial Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy, in the presence of the Secretary General of the Province of Tétouan, the Secretary General of the Prefecture of M'diq-Fnideq, as well as the members of the Board of Directors, comprising the presidents and representatives of the local authorities and the representatives of the various external services of the region and of the territorial jurisdiction of the Agency.

In his opening address, the Secretary General stressed that this Council is meeting in a context marked by the continued implementation of the outcomes of the national dialogue on urban planning and housing, whether through the modernisation of the strategic and prospective planning system, the adoption of a new administrative governance, the launch of the housing support programme, or through the programmes for the rehabilitation of urban and rural areas.

The representative of the Minister also highlighted the accelerated momentum experienced by the Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region in general, and by the territory of the Urban Agency of Tétouan in particular, thanks to the enlightened vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God glorify Him. In this regard, he called on the Urban Agency to redouble its efforts, in coordination with the local authorities and the elected institutions, to meet current and future challenges by adopting a renewed approach to territorial management, pursuing efforts to generalize the coverage of urban planning documents, conducting studies for the preservation of historical, architectural and natural heritage, while integrating the environmental dimension into urban planning studies and developing and rehabilitating the rural world.

The agenda of the session was devoted to the presentation and approval of the moral and financial reports of the Urban Agency for the years 2023 and 2024, as well as its action plan for the year 2025. Through her presentation, the Director of the Urban Agency of Tétouan highlighted the main indicators recorded by the Agency in terms of urban planning and management, as well as in terms of administrative modernization and the implementation of the principles of governance and communication.

At the level of urban planning, the efforts made by the Urban Agency of Tétouan during 2023 and 2024 were crowned by the launch of the Urban Development Master Plan (SDAU) of the province of Chefchaouen, the monitoring of the preparation of the SDAU of Greater Tétouan, the approval of 05 urban-planning documents, the submission of 03 urban-planning documents to the approval procedure, as well as the preparation and monitoring of 28 urban-planning documents. Thus, the coverage rate of major agglomerations, peri-urban areas and coastal zones reached 100%, while that for the entire territory of the Urban Agency of Tétouan is 96.3%.

And in accordance with the High Directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, aimed at preserving and enhancing the cultural and architectural heritage, and within the framework of the specific programme for the rehabilitation and enhancement of the medina of Chefchaouen, as well as the implementation of the partnership agreement programmed in this field, the fourth and final phase of the restoration works was launched and completed in 2024, covering the area extending from Outa El Hammam Square to Bab El Ain.

In the field of urban management, the Urban Agency of Tétouan examined, during 2023 and 2024, 3786 files, of which 2819 files received a favourable opinion, i.e. a rate of 74 %. In terms of construction control and the suppression of violations, a total of 727 tours were carried out, concerning 1334 construction sites.

With regard to land and legal activities, the Urban Agency of Tétouan issued a total of 3448 urban-planning information notes. As for the requests received by the Agency, 274 requests were processed during the years 2023 and 2024.

In application of the provisions of the joint circular between the Ministry of National Territorial Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy and the Ministry of the Interior No. 160D/1049D of 28 April 2023 concerning the simplification of the procedure for granting building permits in rural areas, the delimitation plans for the perimeters of 226 douars, covering an area of 4,014 hectares, were approved during the meetings of the regional commissions chaired by the governors of the provinces of Tétouan and Chefchaouen and of the prefecture of M'diq-Fnideq. Thus, 23 territorial collectivities are now covered by approved douar delimitation plans, which will constitute the reference document for examining applications for building permits, with a view to finalising the approval procedure for these plans for the other collectivities within its territory next year.

As part of the digital transformation and paperless management, the Urban Agency of Tétouan launched several IT projects during 2023 and 2024, in particular: the modernisation of the electronic portal of the Urban Agency of Tétouan, the correspondence management programme, the information system for budget, stock and procurement management, as well as the geographic information system project for urban management. The Agency has also embarked on the project of paperless management of the urban planning information note via the national geographic portal www.taamir.gov.ma.

After having examined the main lines of the assessment of the years 2023 and 2024, as well as the action plan for 2025 and the provisional programme for 2026-2028, and after an in-depth discussion, the Board of Directors approved the moral and financial reports, the Agency's work programme and its draft budget for the year 2025, as well as the recommendations submitted to it. Finally, a pledge of allegiance addressed to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist and protect Him, was read.