European University of Tirana Faculty of Social Sciences

Abstract

Spain and Morocco have had a long and tumultuous relationship. Spanish culture, like Moroccan and other societies in the
Mediterranean area, used to place a high value on family honor and female chastity. However, the death of the Spanish dictator and
Spain's entrance into the European Union have drastically changed Spanish culture and further expand the cultural and political gulf
between these two countries. For Moroccan immigrant women in Spain, virginity remains important for Islamic marriages because
Moroccan grooms and their families can still demand proof of virginity to validate the union. Nevertheless, young Moroccan women still
partake in the sexual freedom granted in Spain and other European countries. Sexual experimenting, however, comes with a price. In
order to mask evidence of behaviors that have strayed from the cultural dicta, Moroccan women would request for certificates of virginity
or hymen reconstruction surgeries to maintain their family honor. Drawn from ethnographic data, interviews, and textual and discourse
analysis, this paper addresses the controversy related to the need to preserve honor and female chastity in Spain and the Spanish
institutions' reaction to this need.