Ten primary schools in Zaragoza will stop offering the Moroccan-funded language and culture programme as Aragón’s new PP-Vox government begins putting its coalition agreement into practice.
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
Aragón is becoming the latest Spanish region to withdraw a programme teaching Arabic language and Moroccan culture from its schools, as the newly formed regional government of the conservative People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox begins implementing one of the measures agreed in its coalition deal.
From the 2026-27 academic year, the programme will no longer be offered at 10 infant and primary schools in Zaragoza where it had previously operated.
The decision follows similar moves in Murcia, Madrid and Extremadura, adding to a widening political debate in Spain over the place of foreign-backed cultural programmes within the country’s state education system.
The measure forms part of the governing agreement reached between the PP and Vox in Aragón. For Vox in particular, the issue has become symbolic of a broader argument about integration, education and the influence of foreign governments in Spanish public institutions.
However, an important distinction remains: Aragón is not banning the Arabic language, nor is it prohibiting schools from teaching Arabic in general.
The programme being withdrawn is the Programa de Enseñanza de Lengua Árabe y Cultura Marroquí (PLACM), a specific scheme devoted to Arabic language and Moroccan culture. It forms part of longstanding educational cooperation between Spain and Morocco, with the Moroccan government involved in its financing and teaching arrangements while Spanish authorities provide participating schools.
The classes have been voluntary rather than a compulsory part of the general curriculum.
From a regional decision to a wider political trend
Aragón’s move is significant because it does not stand alone.
Murcia had already withdrawn from the programme, while Madrid has also moved away from it. Extremadura has taken steps to remove the scheme from schools, although teaching may continue in other settings.
Aragón is now joining that list.
For Vox, the argument is straightforward: a programme backed by the Moroccan state to teach Moroccan language and culture should not operate within Spanish schools.
Its critics, however, are likely to see the decision differently, arguing that such programmes can help children of Moroccan origin maintain linguistic and cultural links while supporting their education and integration in Spain.
The dispute therefore reaches considerably further than the 10 schools directly affected in Zaragoza.
It touches on a much larger question that is increasingly finding its way into Spanish politics: where should the boundary lie between integration and the preservation of cultural identity – and what role, if any, should foreign governments have inside Spain’s public schools?
For Aragón’s new administration, however, there is also a more immediate political message.
PP and Vox have only recently begun governing together in the region, and one of the policies contained in their agreement is already being translated into action.
After Murcia, Madrid and Extremadura, it is now Aragón’s turn.
Whether other Spanish regions follow could determine whether the disappearance of the Moroccan programme remains a collection of regional decisions – or becomes part of a much broader change in Spain’s approach to education, integration and its relationship with Morocco.
