The Directorate-General for Morocco and the Colonies () was a Spanish government agency in charge of the administration of the territories that the Spanish Empire possessed in Africa.
History The organization was created on 15 December 1925, Antoni Segura (1994). El Magreb: del colonialismo al islamismo, Universidad de Barcelona, pág. 344Peter Duignan, L. H. Gann (1974). Colonialism in Africa 1870–1960. Volume 5. A Bibliographic Guide to Colonialism in Sub-saharan Africa, The Eastern Press, p. 57 during the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera. It assumed all administrative management of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, the Spanish colonies in West Africa (Sahara and Ifni) and the territories of Spanish Guinea. Lorenzo Delgado Gómez-Escalonilla (1992). Imperio de papel: acción cultural y política exterior durante el primer franquismo, CSIC, pág. 33n The High Commission of Spain in Morocco and the governors of the Spanish Sahara also depended on this organization. Gaceta de Madrid núm. 351, páginas 1474–1477 (17 de diciembre de 1925) The directorate-general reported directly to the Presidency of the Government. In 1934, during the period of the Second Republic, the directorate-general was abolished by the government and its functions reorganized. Gaceta de Madrid núm. 201, pp. 682–683 (20 de julio de 1934) However, in July 1936 the Republican government recreated this organization. Gaceta de Madrid núm. 186, páginas 116–117 (4 de julio de 1936)
During the Spanish Civil War, the African territories fell under the control of the Nationalist faction, which in 1938 created the so-called National Service of Morocco and Colonies—dependent on the Vice Presidency of the Government—to exercise administrative functions over Morocco and the African colonies, recovering the functions of the former directorate-general; in fact, after the end of the conflict, this body would regain its former administrative rank. Lorenzo Delgado Gómez-Escalonilla (1992). Imperio de papel: acción cultural y política exterior durante el primer franquismo, CSIC, pág. 229n In August 1939, the recovered Directorate-General for Morocco and the Colonies became dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Antoni Segura (1994). El Magreb: del colonialismo al islamismo, Universidad de Barcelona, pág. 346 but by decree of 15 January 1942, it returned to the presidency of the government.
In 1956, following the independence of Morocco and the dissolution of the protectorate, the organization was renamed the Directorate-General of African Places and Provinces. Boletín Oficial del Estado núm. 263, pág. 6031 (19 de septiembre de 1956) In 1969, with the dissolution of Spanish Guinea and the transfer of the province of Ifni to Morocco, the organization was renamed the Directorate-General for the Promotion of the Sahara, BOE núm. 304, de 20 de diciembre de 1969, pág. 19839 Paula Oliver (1987). Sáhara. Drama de una descolonización (1960–1987), M. Font, pág. 56 a name it retained until the loss of Spanish Sahara in 1976 and its dissolution.
See also Spanish Africa Spanish West Africa Ministry of Overseas (Spain)
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