Unrequited Love between Spanish and Moroccan Hearts: The Unreceived Letters

Decades-old letters confiscated by colonial authorities reveal a history of taboo love affairs between Spanish women and Moroccan men during the colonial era. The letters, seized between the 1930s and 1950s, provide insight into the forbidden and intimate relationships that existed during this time. The Spanish officials went to great lengths to prevent these relationships, issuing directives and placing restrictions on travel between Spain and Morocco. The underlying reason for the taboo was the belief that marriages between Spanish women and Moroccan men challenged the perception of Spain's superiority over Morocco. The letters, which were hidden away in Spanish archives and later discovered and published by academics, offer a glimpse into the lives of individuals that official documents rarely reveal. Despite some of these letters being made public, there is still much to be learned from this forgotten archive about the relationships that formed in colonial Morocco.