Moroccans Renew Call for Spain’s Apology Over Rif War Mustard Gas Use

Casablanca – Moroccans have renewed calls for Spain to formally acknowledge and apologize for the use of chemical weapons during the Rif War.

The appeal through the World Amazigh Assembly (AMA) came following recent remarks by King Felipe VI on Spain’s colonial past in Mexico.

AMA, a Moroccan advocacy group focused on cultural rights and identity, sent a letter to the Spanish monarch asking for recognition of  “colonial-era abuses,” including the documented use of mustard gas against civilians in the Rif during the 1920s.

The move came after Felipe VI, speaking during a visit to the Women in Indigenous Mexico exhibition at Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, said there are episodes in history that “cannot make us feel proud” when viewed through today’s values. However, he claimed that this should still be studied in context and through rigorous analysis.

Rachid Raha Mimoun, president of AMA, told Spanish media El Español the King’s comments should now be followed by official recognition from Madrid of the chemical attacks carried out during the Rif War.

The group says the use of prohibited weapons has had lasting health consequences, claiming that nearly 80% of cancer patients seeking treatment in Rabat hospitals come from Northern Morocco. Raha said several members of his own family, including his father, uncles, and cousins, died of cancer.

Moroccans are asking not only for an apology, but also for collective reparations, including investment in healthcare infrastructure and specialized oncology treatment facilities in the region. The letter also refers to chemical weapons production sites such as La Marañosa near Madrid and a former gas plant in Beni Ensar on the border with Melilla.

The human toll of the Rif War is still felt across northern Morocco, especially among families from areas exposed to chemical bombardment during the 1920s. Historical records cited in Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction over the Rif by jurist Mimoun Charqi document the authorization of 100 C-5 bombs over Arbaa Taourirt in March 1925, part of the wider campaign in which mustard gas was used against civilian-populated zones in the Rif.

This legacy is often reflected in the patient flow to Rabat’s oncology hospital, where nearly 80% of adult cancer patients and 50% of child cancer patients are said to come from the same Rif areas targeted during the war, according to an El País article from 2015.

Previous efforts and political backdrop

This is not the first time the group has raised the issue. AMA first wrote to Felipe VI in February 2015 and later met Spanish embassy officials in Rabat, where it submitted historical documentation, including research by Spanish historian María Rosa de Madariaga.

The issue has also surfaced in Spanish politics. In November 2025, left-wing coalition Sumar introduced a non-binding motion in parliament calling on the government to officially recognize Spanish colonialism in Morocco and promote public memory, research, and education on the protectorate period and the Rif War.

Raha said that previous Spanish officials, including Alfonso Dastis, Josep Borrell, and the current Foreign Affairs Minister, José Manuel Albares, had all been made aware of the demands, but no substantial response has followed.

He argued that an official acknowledgment now could help turn a painful colonial legacy into a path toward reconciliation between Morocco and Spain, particularly as the two countries prepare to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal.

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