morocco and western sahara in the map morocco and western sahara appear as hispanophone albeit stating that they are countries and regions where the spanish language is spoken without official recognition or where spanish based cr ole languages chamorro chavacano papiamento portu ol etc are spoken with or without official recognition and areas with a strong hispanic influence i believe that spanish speaking populations outside ceuta and melila are neglectable i'm raising this issue at the commons tnak you the text even states that northern morocco was a spanish colony if you read the article on morocco the situation was much more complex it states successful portuguese efforts to invade and control the atlantic coast in the fifteenth century did not profoundly affect the mediterranean heart of morocco after the napoleonic wars egypt and the north african maghreb became increasingly ungovernable from istanbul the resort of pirates under local beys and as europe industrialized an increasingly prized potential for colonization the maghreb had far greater proven wealth than the unknown rest of africa and a location of strategic importance affecting the exit from the mediterranean for the first time morocco became a state of some interest in itself to the european powers france showed a strong interest in morocco as early as recognition by the united kingdom in of france's sphere of influence in morocco provoked a german reaction the crisis of june was resolved at the algeciras conference spain in which formalized france's special position and entrusted policing of morocco to france and spain jointly a second moroccan crisis provoked by berlin increased tensions between european powers the treaty of fez signed on march made morocco a protectorate of france by the same treaty spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern and southern saharan zones on november that year