La VII Semana de la Lengua Española pone en valor el español en la identidad marroquí

At the opening of the 7th Spanish Language Week in Morocco, Moroccan Hispanists highlighted the importance of this language as "part of Moroccan identity", as well as a tool for learning about the history of the Maghreb country and its relations with Spanish-speaking nations. 

"There are more Spanish speakers in Morocco than in Uruguay, Equatorial Guinea and Panama. Spanish is part of the Moroccan identity", explained Abderrahman El-Fathi, professor of Spanish literature at the Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, at the event held at the Cervantes Institute in Rabat. 

The Hispanist was pleased that his country is part of the community of 600 million Spanish speakers in the world and recalled the importance of Morocco in Spanish heritage and culture, citing as an example the city of Tetouan, one of the routes mentioned by Miguel de Cervantes in his works. 

Mohammed Abrigach, professor of Spanish literature at the University of Ibn Zohr in Agadir, stressed that Spanish "was the first European language" to be used (socially and officially) in Morocco since the 16th century, referring to the letters written between Sultan Ahmed al-Mansur and King Philip II. 

Among other facts marking the importance of Spanish in Moroccan culture, Abrigach highlighted the traces of this language in Moroccan spoken Arabic (dialect) and Berber, as well as the introduction of journalism in the Maghreb country via Spain with the publication of "El Eco de Tetuan", the first publication to be printed in Spanish in the north of Morocco in 1860. 

The Moroccan university professor insisted on the importance of Spanish for "understanding the history of Morocco and its relations with the peninsula and Latin American countries". 

The inauguration was attended by the royal adviser Omar Azziman, as well as a dozen ambassadors from Latin American countries, Spain and Equatorial Guinea. 

The Salvadoran tenor Napoleón Domínguez sang at the ceremony, followed by the traditional reading of excerpts from Don Quixote by seven ambassadors. 

After the reading, an exhibition of posters alluding to the work of the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo (1917-1986), one of the leading figures of 20th century Latin American literature, was inaugurated. 

The 7th Spanish Language Week, which will end on the 12th, will continue with talks, exhibitions, musical performances and plays organised by the embassies of the different Spanish-speaking countries present in Morocco.