The mayor of Tangier, Mounir Limouri, has been placed at the center of the investigation opened for the alleged irregularities detected during the legislative elections held in Morocco last Wednesday. The judicial police have issued a search warrant against the leader of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), according to several local media, after his name appeared in the inquiries due to the discovery of ballot papers in the vicinity of a polling station in the city. His whereabouts have not been officially confirmed, although different sources place the politician in Spain.
However, the available information requires introducing an important caution. Some Moroccan publications claim that Limouri left the country after learning about the progress of the investigation, while sources close to the mayor assert that his trip to Spain was planned in advance for personal and medical reasons and deny that his departure aimed to evade the action of Justice. So far, there has also been no institutional confirmation regarding the exact circumstances of his trip.
The origin of the case: some ballots at the Al Quds school
The investigation began during the electoral day of September 23 at the Al Quds school, located in the Tangier neighborhood of Casabarata. The Prosecutor's Office then confirmed the opening of proceedings after a man was intercepted in the area where a polling station was located carrying a bag with ballots. At the same time, a video began to circulate on social media showing several white envelopes in a transparent ballot box, images whose origin and meaning are also being investigated.
The inquiries expanded in the following days. By Friday, four people had been arrested and remained in police custody, according to Hespress, while the police tried to determine who had provided the ballots, what they were going to be used for, and whether there was an organized structure behind the events. The Justice and Development Party (PJD) publicly denounced possible irregularities aimed at favoring the PAM, while the latter rejected the accusations, spoke of a campaign against the party, and requested that it be the judicial investigation that clarified what happened. For the moment, no court has established that there was electoral fraud nor has it determined criminal responsibilities.
A search order against the mayor
The following turn occurred with the appearance of Limouri's name in the police proceedings. Local media reported this Saturday that the judicial police had issued a national search order, and some sources also speak of actions to locate him outside of Morocco. The information about a possible international order currently comes from media citing sources close to the case and not from an official statement from the Prosecutor's Office.
Limouri continues to officially appear as president of the Tangier Municipal Council and is one of the territorial leaders of the PAM, a party that leads the national result of the 2026 legislative elections. The official Moroccan portal attributes to the party 97 of the 395 seats in the Chamber of Representatives in the provisional results, ahead of the RNI, with 66, and Istiqlal, with 65.
The PAM won in Morocco, but came second in Tangier
The situation of the party in Tangier was different from its national result. In the Tangier-Asilah constituency, the PJD was the most voted party with 25,886 votes, while the PAM came second with 13,687, practically half. Despite that difference, both candidacies obtained a seat, as did the Popular Movement, Istiqlal, and RNI, because the five positions in the constituency were distributed according to the electoral system and the rule of the largest remainders.
This result has added political dimension to an investigation that initially focused on a single polling station. The PAM itself has argued that the accusations cannot be considered proven before the proceedings conclude, while its opponents demand that responsibilities be determined and, in some cases, have raised challenges related to the voting. The Prosecutor's Office is keeping the investigations open regarding the events that occurred in Al Quds.
Spain, probable destination but still without official confirmation
The proximity between Tangier and southern Spain makes it plausible that Limouri has crossed the Strait, but the exact location of the mayor has not been officially communicated by the Moroccan authorities. Some publications place him in Spain and even point to Málaga, while others merely indicate that he would have left Morocco. Sources close to the mayor maintain that he will return and that his departure is not related to the electoral case.
The investigation is, therefore, in a phase that is still open. There is a judicial case for the ballots located in Tangier, several arrests, and a search warrant against the mayor communicated by various local media, but there is still no judicial resolution that attributes to Mounir Limouri the authorship of electoral fraud. It will be the development of the inquiries that determines whether his role goes beyond the suspicions that have led the authorities to try to locate him.