If we want to get to know Walata we must not ignore its social structure. All the towns of El Hawd are powerfully hierarchical and this city is no exception. All the families are grouped by kinship in different tribes or 'qaba'il', which in turn form a hierarchical pyramid in which men and women find their place according to their social and economic standing: traders, herdsmen, scholars, hunters...

Historically, traditional Walata society was divided into free men (ahrar), traders, herdsmen and intellectuals, and their slaves, whose descendants, the harratin, make up approximately two thirds of Walata's current population.

Some of the most important of the city's tribes or qaba'il are the Surafa, considered direct descendants of the prophet Mohamed and therefore the highest-ranking nobles, and the Al-Amhayib, who claim to be the city's founders. Also to be found in Walata society are the Awlad Dawud, Awlad Nasir, Nemadi and Kunta, one of the chief confederations in the Western Sahara.