Aragón scraps Arabic and Moroccan culture programme in ten schools

Vox pulls Arabic and Segarro culture teaching from Aragón schools

The vice-president of the Government of Aragón, Alejandro Nolasco, announced this Sunday the abolition of the Arabic Language and Segarro Culture Programme in the ten schools in the Spanish region where it was taught. The measure, which takes effect this school year, was justified with a social media message: «No to the Sarracinisation of Europe. And no to the Sarracinisation of Spain». Nolasco, of Vox, has also scrapped weekly payments to unaccompanied foreign minors, in a line of cutting programmes linked to immigration.

A decision with political and economic undertones

The decision is not merely symbolic. Behind it lies a battle over control of the cultural narrative in public education. While some see a budget saving and a brake on what they consider external influence, others point out that a tool for integration is being lost. The programme had been running for years in ten schools, with public funding and specialised teachers. Its elimination leaves those pupils without a space to learn their language and culture of origin.

Curiously, some propose an alternative: using the subject to teach textual criticism of the Quran and of the Alaouite monarchy, instead of abolishing it. It is an idea circulating in the public debate, but it clashes with Vox's official line, which prefers to remove any trace of what it considers indoctrination.

The measure fits into Vox's agenda in the coalition government with the PP (People's Party) in Aragón. Cultural policies become a battleground, while economic ones take a back seat. The question is whether this decision responds to a real demand from families or to an electoral mobilisation strategy. Time will tell, but the fact is clear: ten schools in Aragón will no longer teach Arabic or Segarro culture.