Since the end of the 8th century, northern Morocco was under the influence of the Moroccan sultanates, although the mountainous area of the Rif was frequently difficult for sultans to control. Spain invaded northern Morocco in 1859 and was pushed out by the Moroccans in 1862.
In 1909 and 1923, pressure on the Moroccan Sultan led European powers to establish the Tangier International Zone.
European colonialism led to the creation of the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco, with its capital in Tetouan, in 1912. On the Atlantic, the Protectorate covered the area from the Tangier border to just south of the town of Larache. On the Mediterranean, it extended from the Tangier border to east of Melilla. Inland it extended from Larache to Berkane, near the border town of Oujda. Spain returned the Protectorate to Morocco in 1956, the year of Moroccan independence.
From Margarita Diaz-Andreu, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Margarita_Diaz-Andreu
Jews have lived in northern Morocco since the Phoenicians arrived over 2,000 years ago. Large numbers of them came with the Arabs in the 8th century, and many more took refuge from the Spanish inquisition and riots in the 14th through the 16th centuries.
The city of Tetouan was founded in the 15th century by Muslim refugees from Spain. The Jews who accompanied them spoke Castilian-based Ladino, unlike other Moroccan Jews who spoke Judeo-Arabic or Judeo-Tamazight. Moroccan Ladino integrated Arabic, becoming a new dialect called Haketia.
Jews made up large percentages of the population in Tetouan and Tangier. Other large Jewish populations developed in the Mediterranean ports of Ceuta and Melilla, which are claimed by Spain.
Today, few Jews are left in northern Morocco after the mass emigration of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Many emigrated to Israel, but others emigrated to Spain and Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America.