Spanish Openness to Moroccan Culture Is Greater in Theory Than in Practice
A study of 361 Spaniards finds a gap between their willingness to adopt elements of Moroccan culture and the habits they say they have adopted. Researchers found greater openness to peripheral practices than to core cultural dimensions, particularly when relations with Moroccans are positive.
Is the Moroccan presence in Spain also changing the habits of the Spanish population? That is the question explored by four researchers from UNED and the University of Almería in a study published in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, with results featured in the November 2026 issue.
Paola Raipán-Gómez and her colleagues surveyed 361 native Spaniards online, 53.4% of them women. They set out to understand the extent to which these people incorporate cultural elements of Moroccan origin into their own lives, and how far they would be willing to go.
Participants were asked to distinguish between what they said they already adopted and what they would like to adopt. The researchers also separated peripheral aspects of daily life from more central cultural dimensions, which involve deeper changes.
The results reveal a clear difference: respondents are more willing to adopt Moroccan elements than they say they currently do. They are also more open to peripheral aspects. Overall, however, levels of cultural adoption remain relatively low, particularly for central dimensions.
Do relations with Moroccans make a difference?
The study also examines the quality of contact with people of Moroccan origin. The results show a positive association between such contact and cultural adoption, but this relationship varies according to participants’ views on diversity.
In peripheral areas, people who have positive contact with Moroccans report greater adoption of their practices when they have moderate or strong support for multiculturalism. The researchers thus find that the quality of relationships and openness to diversity work together.
For central cultural dimensions, the result is even more selective. The association between the quality of contact with Moroccans and willingness to adopt their practices appears only among those who strongly support multiculturalism.
