Based on an extensive, 50-interview qualitative analysis of the community of second-generation Moroccans in the southern barrios of Madrid, this article illuminates significant sociopolitical alienation derived from a distinct set of perceptions about the Spanish state and society. To understand the nature of this sociopolitical alienation, the article evaluates the civic structures available to the young men interviewed and finds a very green, discriminatory Spanish democracy that is struggling to establish a culture of activism and associationalism among Spaniards, let alone Muslim Moroccan migrants. Many members of the second generation of Moroccans, some of whom have lived under a democracy about as long as any Spaniard, have not only maintained their parents' detachment from Spanish society, but cling more tightly to a enduringly relevant Moroccan ethno-religious identity. According to the data, for a variety of reasons, young people continue to clutch a lingering "myth of return" that prevents them from investing in a future in Spain. Many participants perceived their Moroccan identity to be irreconcilable with not only the ethno-religious Spanish identity, but also the civic Spanish identity. In analysing Spain's ability to win their engagement, the data point to a variety of obstacles to organising Moroccan activism and a remarkably flawed structure of representative governance in Spain--leaving an expanding community of Moroccan-origin people withdrawn from the civic sphere of their country with little expectation of change.