Spain’s autonomous community of Aragon has ended the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Programme in the ten schools that were still offering it, with the change taking effect at the start of the 2026/27 academic year.
The decision is regional, not nationwide. Similar classes continue in other parts of Spain under a long-standing education-cooperation framework between Spain and Morocco.
What has changed in Aragon
Aragon’s vice-president, Alejandro Nolasco of Vox, announced that the programme would no longer operate in the ten participating schools. The measure had been included in an April 22 governing agreement between the regional Popular Party and Vox, with implementation scheduled for September 2026.
Vox has characterized the Moroccan-supported programme as foreign interference and has used broader anti-immigration language to defend its removal. Those descriptions are political claims made by the party, not findings about the programme’s educational outcomes.
How the programme worked
The Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Programme grew out of a cultural-cooperation agreement between Spain and Morocco that has been in force since 1985. Its stated objectives include teaching Arabic language and Moroccan culture to interested pupils, supporting school and social inclusion, and encouraging intercultural respect.
An official report on Aragon’s education system says that two teachers delivered the programme in ten schools during the 2023/24 academic year, reaching approximately 180 pupils. The programme was open to Moroccan pupils and to other pupils who wished to participate.
The programme continues elsewhere in Spain
Ending the ten groups in Aragon does not abolish the national cooperation programme. In Catalonia alone, more than 1,800 pupils attended Arabic-language and Moroccan-culture classes in 122 schools during the 2025/26 year, according to figures previously supplied by the Catalan education authorities.
Most of those Catalan classes took place outside normal school hours. Teachers are assigned through the cooperation arrangement with Morocco, which distinguishes the programme from compulsory subjects in Spain’s standard curriculum.
An education decision with a political dimension
The Aragon measure sits at the intersection of education policy, regional politics and debate over integration. Supporters of the programme describe heritage-language learning as a way to maintain family ties while encouraging participation in Spanish schools. Critics object to a foreign government’s role and to the cultural content of the classes.
A useful assessment should separate those political positions from measurable questions: how many students participated, whether attendance was voluntary, when classes were held and what outcomes schools observed. Public reporting on the new decision does not yet provide a replacement programme or an evaluation of what participating families will do next.
What happens now
The ten affected Aragon schools will not offer the programme during the new academic year. Families may turn to community classes or private language instruction, but no regional substitute has been announced in the sources reviewed for this article.
The longer-term question is whether other Spanish regions will maintain, revise or reassess their own arrangements. For now, the confirmed change remains limited to Aragon.
FAQ
Has Spain banned Arabic classes nationwide?
No. Aragon ended this specific Morocco-linked programme in ten schools. The programme continues in other Spanish regions.
How many pupils took part in Aragon?
An official regional education report counted approximately 180 pupils across ten schools in the 2023/24 academic year.
Was the programme part of a bilateral agreement?
Yes. It developed from a Spain–Morocco cultural-cooperation agreement in force since 1985.
- Bladi.net — L’Espagne supprime les cours de langue arabe et de culture marocaine dans dix écoles (7 September 2026): https://www.bladi.net/espagne-supprime-cours-langue-arabe-culture-marocaine-dix-ecoles,123605.html
- Aragon Education Council — 2025 report on the regional education system and PLACM: https://educa.aragon.es/documents/20126/0/INFORMEDELSISTEMA2025CEA.pdf/f5ed4ca4-d5de-fc43-0a90-5f9973b04fbb?t=1773305747046
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