A failed outpost: official colonization and properties in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco (1912-1956)

From a perspective of land management and occupation, this article focusses on the impact of the officially-sponsored colonization of the Spanish Protectorate of Northern Morocco (1912-1956). Using sources in the Archivo General de la Administración and the protectorate’s Bulletin of Acts and Decrees to examine farming activities and property rights, this research mainly analyzes the land distribution work of the specialized Spanish institutions that were introduced into northern Morocco. Our starting point is that Spanish colonialism in Morocco was poorly planned and insufficiently prepared, resulting in negative consequences for the agricultural efforts of the Spanish colonist farmers. Spanish society had a distorted or biased view of the Moroccan people around the year 1900, which undermined the efficacy of colonial action even though misinformation gradually diminished in the following decade. The war against the Rif resistance movement and the continuous lack of financial means contributed to the failure of this initiative. It had an especially negative impact among settlers, who were largely unsuccessful on their farms and in many cases never received the promised official support or resources.