Agadir- Cataluña's regional government is reportedly trying to sway its large Moroccan population to vote favorably during the upcoming referendum on secession from the Spanish kingdom that has been scheduled for November 9, by offering Arabic and Tamazight lessons in addition to lessons about Islam in the region's schools, according to Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo.
The government of the northeastern region of Cataluña approved on Monday the 2014-2017 "Morocco Plan", a bill which aims to strengthen relations between the region and Morocco, 'in order to satisfy the aspirations of some 270,000 Moroccans residents in Cataluña, which consists 3 percent of the region's population'.
According to the Madrid-based newspaper, the bail's main point is that the government is planning to offer Moroccan residents the teaching of Islam education as well as Arabic and Tamazight language of the Rif Mountains during school hours.
The Catalan government is planning to attract Moroccans to the polls in two months and to appease Morocco's opposition to the region's independence ambitions yielded out of 'fear that the separatist spirit will spread into the Western Sahara', the newspaper added.
Spokesman of Artur Mas's government, Francesc Homs said on Monday following the meeting of the Executive Council that the bill has established five big areas of cooperation with Morocco and its immigrants. However, the official did not elaborate on these areas of cooperation.
The bill was developed with the collaboration of several departments of the regional government, starting with the Ministry of Education, the General Directorate of Immigration and representative groups of the Moroccan community in Cataluña.
The government proposed the creation of a Catalan-Moroccan joint Committee to offer Islamic religion classes to nearly 24,000 Moroccan students enrolled in Catalan schools.