Fiesta de la Independencia: Marruecos conmemora su autodeterminación

Morocco celebrates the 66th anniversary of its independence at a time marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. On this day, Morocco celebrates its independence from the former colonising powers of France and Spain and thus celebrates its sovereignty as a kingdom.

On this sixty-sixth celebration, Morocco highlights all the achievements the kingdom has made over the course of the year.  The peculiarity of the health crisis has led to a strong economic take-off in order to execute the economic recovery, and the Alawite kingdom is currently experiencing an astonishing acceleration in this area. 

Moreover, with the departure of the Islamists from government, Morocco is expected to start unloading a major social protection programme based on the protection of its citizens, with a focus on those groups most vulnerable to economic fluctuations and the health crisis.

In terms of equality, the Arab country is implementing measures that gradually seek to give women access to positions of power. The new government, led by Ajanouch, has six women ministers, one of whom is responsible for the finance and economy portfolio, a ministry that has always been headed by a man. Although there is still a long way to go on the social and political front, Morocco is now emerging as a model Arab country compared to its neighbours on these issues.

In addition, the country continues to make strong progress towards ending the pandemic through mass immunisation through the national vaccination programme against COVID-19.

To talk about its history, we must go back to 1912, the year in which France and England were disputing the territories of what was known as the Jerifian Empire. In this territorial dispute, both colonial powers regarded each other with suspicion. The British, fearful that the French might position themselves in the southwest Mediterranean, bordering Gibraltar, led the then Sultan of Morocco, Mulay Fafid, to sign a protectorate treaty with France in March 1912 with the signing of the Treaty of Fez.

In this agreement, France undertook to recognise Spain in the territory of northern Morocco and established a Protectorate, naming Tetouan as the capital. As a protectorate, the territory was to be administered by Spain. Spain offered its protection to the region in exchange for a series of economic and political benefits.

Thus, General Felipe Alfau led the occupation of an area that would extend over the Rif and Yébala regions, as well as incorporating a territory located in the south, which turned out to be the current province of Tarfaya. In these territories, the Moroccan population led a series of pockets of resistance that were crucial to their future independence. This resistance led to a series of confrontations that lasted 18 years (1909-1927).

At a time when it seemed that pacifism was going to reign, General Silvestre's expedition into the interior of the Rif to reach Annual was interrupted by the uprising of the Rif tribes under the leadership of Abd el-Krim.

Spain was at a time of significant territorial loss. The kingdom had recently lost the West Indies and the Philippine Islands, plunging Spanish economic interests into a major crisis. Seeing its rapid loss of influence, as well as the French threat in Morocco, Spain embarked on a campaign to regain some of its colonising power.

This opposition by the population to the colonising powers managed to spread to Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, Tetouan and Tangier. In 1950, the Istiqlal party won the support of the then Sultan Mohammed V, who demanded full independence for Morocco. The question of independence gained entry to the UN in 1952, and only a year later France sent the Sultan into exile in Madagascar. 

However, his words during a speech in Tangier, then considered an international city, affirming "Morocco's attachment to the freedom and territorial integrity of the nation and its attachment to its components and identity", inspired its people.

This event and the replacement of Mohammed V by Mohammed Ben Arafa lit the fuse of a population that perceived the new sultan as illegitimate. Thus, the revolts spread active opposition to France and eventually led to a rebellion through which Morocco gained independence in 1956 from both the French Republic and Spain, marking the beginning of the country's modern history.