By Julia Cabrera
Rabat – 300 drivers meet in Nador on Sunday to begin their first stage in the 3,000-kilometer “Panda Raid” race to Marrakech, where the participants will then disperse to collaborate in community service.
The Panda Raid rally is a race in which participants compete under equal conditions, racing in the same car model, a Fiat Panda. Aside from the competition, the rally intends to promote solidarity, as participants will work together to build and develop a bioclimatic school for infants in Ait Ahmed, Agadir. According to, Spanish news outlet Levantate, the project aims to help the ecosystem through the use local, energy-efficient materials.
This year’s race will feature the most participants in Panda Raid history, according to Levantate. One of the teams, the “Panxerta team” of Andrés Giner and José Tomás, has an additional solidarity project of their own, vowing to donate 20 percent of the money raised from sponsors to study irregular deceases afflicting the youth of Barxeta, Spain.
The first stage of the race will end at Tissaf, following which participants will have five more stages to complete before reaching Marrakesh on Friday, encountering dessert areas, mountainous terrain and paved roads.
According to Levantate, the rally also aims to let participants “leave everything behind,” referring to dependency on technology and the noise of civilization.
