Sports

Ronaldo offers hotel as shelter to Morocco’s earthquake survivors

Pestana CR7, a 174-room hotel owned by Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Marrakesh, Morocco, has become a refuge site for the survivors of an earthquake in the country.

The earthquake recorded in the North African country on Friday, September 8, 2023, has killed at least 2,012 people and injured over 2,000.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountain range.

As a result, people have taken to any buildings that they can to find shelter following the natural disaster, including Ronaldo’s hotel.

According to Spanish newspaper, Marca, the Pestana CR7 Marrakesh is graded at four stars, just below luxury, and includes an outdoor pool, fitness centre, restaurant, and terrace.

But as Moroccans come together to attempt to find recovery, the hotel has set aside its up-market qualities.

A Spanish national, Irene Seixas, said: “The hotels are the same. We had to come to the new area of Marrakesh, where there are more luxury hotels, so to speak.

“Now we have managed to get Cristiano Ronaldo’s hotel, which is on the outskirts, to give us a room. Pestana CR7, a 174-room hotel owned by Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Marrakesh, Morocco has become a refuge site for the survivors of earthquake in the country.

“We are waiting. We slept all night on the street and at seven in the morning they told us that yes, we could approach.

“We are in a lobby a lot of people of different nationalities, waiting to see if we can get a room, but we have all slept on the street.”

The Star