Since at least a decade ago, protests in Morocco have often centered on regional inequities and the government’s priorities in Rabat. This weekend’s nationwide rallies coalesced around popular anger seen earlier this year in isolated incidents throughout Morocco, including in areas still reeling from the deadly 2023 earthquake. Unrest swelled most recently after eight women died giving birth in a public hospital in Agadir, a large coastal city 483 kilometers south of Rabat. Moroccans this month have been demonstrating outside hospitals in several cities and rural towns to denounce the decline of public services. Officials have denied prioritizing World Cup spending over public infrastructure, saying problems facing the health sector were inherited.