Brunette is morena in standard Spanish, but in the DR moreno/a means dark-skinned or black, so a brunette in the DR could be described as anything from rubia to trigueña to India clara.
I made this point in the Culture Smart book. I am olive-skinned with dark brown hair and brown eyes, a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern look. In Spain I am always morena. In the DR, like anyone else with lighter skin, I'm sometimes described as rubia. In standard Spanish rubio/a is blond/e. So when Amelia Vega won Miss Universe and the media in Spain described her as morena, she must have done a double-take.
It would be interesting to hear how other Latin American countries make the distinction.
I made this point in the Culture Smart book. I am olive-skinned with dark brown hair and brown eyes, a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern look. In Spain I am always morena. In the DR, like anyone else with lighter skin, I'm sometimes described as rubia. In standard Spanish rubio/a is blond/e. So when Amelia Vega won Miss Universe and the media in Spain described her as morena, she must have done a double-take.
It would be interesting to hear how other Latin American countries make the distinction.