Moroccan-Spanish Celebrities Avoid Controversial Homeland Topics

On the issue of the Sahara, sensitive for Morocco, as well as on those relating to human rights violations in the kingdom or claims on Ceuta and Melilla, Moroccans in Spain and in particular the personalities, prefer not to speak out. The rapper Morad seems to be an exception to this rule. The Moroccan-origin star has incurred the wrath of Internet users after posting a video on TikTok last August in which he claimed that "the Sahara belongs to Morocco". Morad was apologizing after being photographed with the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) during a concert. "I confused it with a Palestinian flag."

According to the latest INE data, Moroccans, with 872,759 people, form the largest foreign community in Spain, ahead of Romania, the United Kingdom or Colombia. Moroccan players Bounou or Youssef En-Nesyri from Sevilla FC have refused to answer questions from El Independiente on these issues concerning Morocco. As did Mina El Hammani, the 29-year-old Spanish actress of Moroccan origin, and the writer Najat el Hachmi who, for her part, claims to have already addressed several of these themes in her columns published in the media. The actor Hamza Zaidi or the athlete Mohamed Katir, for their part, did not even respond to interview requests, laments the newspaper.

Questioned about the silence of these Moroccans who have successfully integrated in Spain, an exiled Moroccan opponent explains that "it is a completely domesticated society. It is not even possible to find critical voices in the country." According to the annual report of Amnesty International on the human rights situation, published this week, the Moroccan authorities "continue to crush dissident voices, disperse peaceful demonstrations and restrict the activities of various organizations they consider opposition groups." Repression against Sahrawi activists has also intensified in the kingdom, the report notes.

This posture of Moroccans in Spain is due to the fact that "no Spanish party has bothered to give them a voice, by allowing them to participate in municipal elections," argues an expert, stressing that the strong ties that still unite these Moroccans living abroad to their country of origin, Morocco, partly explain this absolute silence considered as a safeguard for their sporadic returns to the kingdom.