Episode 54 with Ali Al Tuma

In this second part of our series on slavery in Spain’s colonies in North Africa, we speak with Ali Al Tuma about slavery in the Spanish Sahara. Al Tuma provides an overview of how slavery formed part of the social and economic structures in the Sahara and discusses the Spanish colonial policy towards slavery. He then shares some of the stories he has uncovered of slaves who navigated this complex and dangerous web of owners, traffickers, soldiers and policemen in search of a better life.

The Episode

The Guest

Ali Al Tuma received his doctorate at Leiden University in 2016. In 2018 he published his thesis on the Moroccan soldiers in the Spanish Army, which is titled Guns, Culture and Moors. Racial Perceptions, Cultural Impact and the Moroccan Participation in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). He also co-edited with Dr. Eric Storm a volume on Asian and African soldiers fighting in Europe: Colonial Soldiers in Europe, 1914-1945. ‘Aliens in Uniform’ in Wartime Societies (2016). Between 2017-2019 he worked at the United Nations University in Tokyo, researching military and justice aspects of the war in Iraq against the Islamic State organization. Between 2020-2022 he was a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for History at Sciences Po-Paris working for the European Research Council Project “Slave Voices” (headed by Prof. M’hamed Oualdi). In addition to historical publications, he has written fictional works including award-winning historical plays. Yusuf Melik Ispanya (Yusuf King of Spain) (Sharjah, UAE, 2015) is about the adventures of a reluctant Moroccan soldier during the Spanish Civil War, 47 Nashmiyan (47 Honourable Men) (Fujairah 2019) is inspired by both the 1920 rebellion in British occupied Iraq and the Ako-incident in 18th century Japan, and he has recently finished a bilingual (English-Arabic) play about slavery in the Spanish Sahara tentatively called “At the Guelta.” He is currently a freelance writer and translator.

Suggested Readings

• Caratini, Sophie. Les Rgaybat. vol.2. Territorie et Société. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1985.
• Caro Baroja, Julio. Estudios Saharianos. Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Africanos, 2008 [1955].
• Dalmases, Pablo-Ignacio de. La esclavitud en el Sáhara occidental. Barcelona: Carena, 2012.
• Mateo Dieste, Josep Lluís.  “‘Asuntos negros’: Las autoridades españolas frente a la esclavitud y el servilismo en los territorios del Sáhara Occidental (1934-1957).” Historia y política: Ideas, procesos y movimientos sociales, no. 44 (2020): 275-304.  

Music Credits

“Dios Mío!”
By: Aziza Brahim
From: Radio Wombat Firenze
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