This paper focuses on the study of landscape quality of Moroccan Mediterranean coastal areas, with a view to distinguishing exceptional beaches with high scenic value. The main characteristics of 50 beaches along the studied coast were assessed using a coastal scenic evaluation system based on a set of 26 selected parameters, including physical (18) and human (8) parameters. Each parameter was examined via a five-point rating scale, ranging from presence/absence or poor quality (1) to excellent quality (5). A decision index (D) is afterward obtained and used to classify sites into five classes: Class I: D ≥ 0.85, which included 9 sites (18%); Class II: 0.85 > D ≥ 0.65, 10 sites (20%); Class III: 0.65 > D ≥ 0.40, 8 sites (16%); Class IV: 0.40 > D ≥ 0.00, 16 sites (32%); and Class V: D < 0.00, 7 sites (14%). The sites of Belyounech 2, Maresdar, El Hwad, and Dalya are the best examples of Class I and represent extremely attractive coastal landscapes. The sites of Ghandouri, Tangier Municipal, M’Diq, Martil, and Tangier Malabata are examples of degraded urban sites that are very unattractive due to high human pressures. Management efforts in Moroccan coastal landscapes can strengthen the control of human activities and improve the scenic value of the sites. Class II beaches, such as Mrisat, Souani, Taourirt, and Sfiha, could improve and upgrade to Class I through litter cleaning and a regular maintenance program. Using the same principle, Class III sites, such as Sidi Amer O Moussa and Sidi Driss, could improve and upgrade to Class II. Indeed, litter and sewage appear as the main factors of degradation of Moroccan coasts, and many excellent beaches are strongly affected by them. This should be a wakeup call to the Moroccan authorities to take urgent and appropriate management measures.

Many tourists around the world are interested in coastal sites of exceptional scenic quality. This paper aims to assess the landscape quality of 50 sites along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast based on a novelty Coastal Scenic Quality Evaluation (CSQE) method able to classify the attractiveness of the sites and to distinguish exceptional ones with high tourist potential. This proposed methodology relies on evaluating coastal areas through easily obtainable indicators in order to simplify its application to other regions around the world. Four landscape dimensions were selected: Substratum, Sea-Coastal Area, Vegetation and Scenic Background. Each dimension was numerically assessed and ranged from 0 to 1. The values of each dimension along the sites were classified as: <0.2 (very low); 0.2 to <0.4 (low); 0.4 to <0.6 (medium); 0.6 to <0.8 (high) and ≥0.8 (very high). The results show that the overall scenic quality score of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast is 0.6 (high quality), reflecting a potential tourist destination of high scenic value. Substratum, Sea-Coastal Area and Vegetation dimensions obtained a high quality score (0.6 to <0.8), while the Scenic Background dimension recorded medium quality (0.4 to <0.6). Urbanization, the presence of litter and sewage evidence were the main factors of degradation of the Moroccan coastal landscapes, i.e., 32 out of 50 sites (64%) obtained low scores (from 0 to 2) for these three variables. Sound management actions have to be taken to reduce their impacts, in order to preserve and improve the natural landscape, and strength its capacity to host the various tourist activities.