The city council of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) has rejected a motion presented by the far-right party Vox during its late September plenary session. The motion sought to abolish the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Program (PLACM), offered in several public schools across the municipality, El Debate reported on Tuesday, September 14. Vox's proposal criticized the program, which is held outside regular school hours and taught by Moroccan instructors selected by the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans Living Abroad. The party argued that this model runs counter to «the principles of neutrality, unity, and cohesion of the Spanish education system» and «encourages segregation rather than integration». The motion was voted down by the PSC (Catalan Socialist Party), ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), and Comunes (left-wing alliance), while the People's Party (PP) abstained. According to Spain's Ministry of Education, 11 schools in L'Hospitalet currently offer these courses, although the city council only acknowledges two, the same source reported. Data from the Generalitat of Catalonia (regional government) indicate that around 2,000 students benefited from the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Program in 2024, roughly half in the province of Barcelona, 400 in Lleida, and about 300 in Tarragona and Girona. It is worth noting that the region of Murcia eliminated the same program in September following an agreement between the PP and Vox, a move that deprived 350 students of Moroccan culture classes. Murcia thus followed the example of Madrid, which is also governed by the PP.
