Why Did Spain Get Rich But Morocco Never Did?

Why did Spain get rich while Morocco, just 9 miles (14 km) away, never caught up? In 1950, adjusted for prices, Spain was only about 1.5 times richer than Morocco. Today its income per person is more than 8 times higher. We follow the map behind the money across the Strait of Gibraltar: Al-Andalus and Córdoba, Spanish silver and the expulsion of the Moriscos, the French and Spanish protectorates, the Rif War and the Battle of Annual, Franco's coup from Spanish Morocco, the Spanish miracle and the tourism boom, Spain joining the European Community in 1986 and Morocco's rejected bid in 1987, phosphate, Tanger Med, Morocco's car industry, Ceuta, and the 2030 World Cup. Chapters: 0:00 Nine miles, eight times 0:51 Two countries that should be twins 1:50 The silver that didn't stay 3:14 Who got the rock 4:19 The miracle next door 5:28 The door that closed 6:11 Where they stand today 6:44 Morocco stops waiting 7:38 Back to the fence 8:07 The honest part 8:38 The scorecard Watch next: Switzerland vs Austria →    • Why Did Switzerland Get Rich But Austria N...   Sources & credits: Income data: World Bank; Maddison Project Database 2023 (via Our World in Data) Satellite imagery: Sentinel-2 cloudless by EOX IT Services GmbH (CC BY 4.0) Map data: Natural Earth; AWS Terrain Tiles Historical borders: historical-basemaps by aourednik (GPL-3.0) Music: ElevenLabs Music. Animation and sound design: Neighbors Apart #Spain #Morocco #geography