Before 1985, Moroccans did not require visas to enter Spain. Many young came for seasonal or short-term work in agriculture and industry, coming and going from Spain without settling there. A new visa law implemented that year,
La Ley de Extranjeria, was quite restrictive, and did not provide for permanent residence permits. In 1989, the
Asociación de Trabajadores Inmigrantes Marroquíes en España was formed by a group of Moroccan workers to defend their working rights. As late as 1992, official statistics showed only 16,665 Moroccans residing in Spain (of whom 14,998 lived in
peninsular Spain). In the following years, many Moroccans came to occupy jobs in the agricultural, hospitality, construction, and service sectors. 2000 also marked a significant shift in Spanish immigration laws; Law 4/2000 passed that year created mechanisms for family reunification, regularisation of
illegal migrants, and acquisition of permanent residency. By 2008, official statistics showed 752,695 legal Moroccan residents of Spain. However, according to provisional figures, the Moroccan population of Spain continued to grow during the year, and had reached 858,000 by the beginning of 2011, 8.8% higher than the 2008 total. From 2000 to 2016, 211,709 Moroccans were naturalised as Spanish nationals. In the period 2010–2015 alone, 127,474 gained nationality. In the 2015–16 school year, 174,774 Moroccans were in Spanish schools. As of 2018, Catalonia was the autonomous community with the most Moroccans, 209,920. The
Region of Murcia had the second most, 79,482. ==Notable individuals==