Established in 1936 in Tetouan, the Party of National Reform – hizb al-Iṣlāḥ al-watanī – was the first nationalist party recognized in the Franco-Spanish Protectorate. Tetouani nationalists were at the centre of an international network that provided continuous contacts, exchanges, and activities with also Arab nationalists and with the other nationalist parties of the French Zone. However, the existence of two colonial states and two different policies as well as practices of domination resulted in a double national leadership who were reproducing colonial frontiers. Although the constant attempts to coordinate at the regional and international levels, the different colonial legacies and the different interests of each group involved in the national project resulted in a fragmented national leadership at the advantage to the King Mohammed V.
