Spain scraps Arabic language and Moroccan culture classes in ten schools

The decision concerns the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Programme (PLACM), a scheme organized in cooperation with Morocco and the Spanish Ministry of Education. According to El Español, it was still being offered in ten schools in Aragon.

Its abolition had been planned for several months. It was included in the government agreement concluded on 22 April between the People’s Party (PP) and Vox, which set its implementation for September 2026. Vox had already included the programme’s abolition in its regional election manifesto, denouncing Morocco’s “interference” in education.

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The PLACM nevertheless exists in several Spanish regions. More than 1 800 students were still taking part in it last year in 122 schools in Catalonia, mainly outside school hours. The teachers responsible for these classes are sent by Morocco as part of the educational cooperation between the two countries.

Abolition effective from the start of the school year

Alejandro Nolasco, vice-president of Aragon and Vox’s regional leader, presented the abolition on Sunday as the direct implementation of the agreement concluded with the PP. He also reaffirmed his party’s opposition to what he calls the “Islamisation” of Spain.

The change comes just as the 2026-2027 school year begins in Aragon. The ten schools concerned will therefore no longer offer the Arabic language and Moroccan culture classes provided under this scheme.

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The decision remains limited to Aragon and does not mean the programme is disappearing throughout Spain. The PLACM continues to be rolled out in particular in several hundred schools across the country, while the teaching of Arabic and Moroccan culture has grown considerably in Spain in recent years.