Abstract
During its presence in Northern Morocco and the Western Sahara, Spain lauded its colonial policies, and relations with the native populations in general, as being more successful than those of the other colonial power present in the region, France. While it is true that France’s educational policies were narrowly aimed at forming acquiescent elites of the Maghrebi societies, Spain’s policies in turn were severely conditioned by a hyper-awareness of existing ethno-religious divisions, a product of the prominence of religion in the historical relations between Iberia and the Maghreb. In this essay, I discuss the differences in Spain’s educational policies between Northern Morocco and the Western Sahara with a special focus on the implications for the postcolonial language policies and the current linguistic landscape in both areas. The main argument is that ethno-religious divisions and political propaganda, particularly during the Francoist dictatorship, were the two most important factors that shaped Spain’s linguistic incursion in Western North Africa and its legacy today.
Highlights
Introduction: the changing history of the Spanish language in North Africa The historical interest of Spain in North Africa goes back to the time of the Catholic
(1) Early period: starting with the fall of the last Caliphate in the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 and lasting until Spain’s evacuation of the Algerian port city of Oran in 1791, these three centuries saw major events that introduced the Spanish language into North Africa, first in the form of language of refugees following the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Moriscos and Judeo-Spanish speakers, principally in Morocco and Tunisia, and the annexation of Melilla in 1497 and Ceuta in 1668–two cities where Spanish has been maintained as native language since
Spanish-Moroccan War (La Guerra de África 1859-1860) and Spain’s withdrawal from the Western Sahara in 1974. Events covered under this period include significant immigration from Spain to French-occupied Algeria, where the Spanish language became part of the linguistic panorama of some of its coastal cities (Bonmatí Antón 1992; Moreno Fernández 1992, 1994, 1995), the establishment of the Protectorate in northern Morocco (1912-1956), and the colonization of the Sahara (1924-1976), where Spanish played the role of colonial language
Summary
Introduction: the changing history of the Spanish language in North Africa The historical interest of Spain in North Africa goes back to the time of the Catholic. Events covered under this period include significant immigration from Spain to French-occupied Algeria, where the Spanish language became part of the linguistic panorama of some of its coastal cities (Bonmatí Antón 1992; Moreno Fernández 1992, 1994, 1995), the establishment of the Protectorate in northern Morocco (1912-1956), and the colonization of the Sahara (1924-1976), where Spanish played the role of colonial language.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
