The Spanish Protectorate of Morocco was legitimised by colonial administrators and specialists in African affairs, and was the result of the historical, and even biological, relationship of proximity between Spaniards and Moroccans. This rhetoric also highlighted an apparent brotherhood that actually justified the paternal tutoring of Morocco. This article puts forward the key points of this rhetoric and contrasts its ideological aspects with the practical field of social and day-to-day relationships between Spanish and Moroccan people ―the barriers and cross-overs. These relationships comprised numerous separation mechanisms: in terms of space and in the types of social relationships due to the respective sexual and marital prohibitions. Despite these barriers, the data presented from colonial sources and interviews points to the existence of proximity relationships, particularly among the lower classes, and contrasts with other kinds of differences that divided the colonial Spanish society, such as the social frontier between civilians and members of the army.
Colonial policy, Morocco, social frontiers, mixed relationships, acculturation.