Spanish Sahara

For the song by Foals, see Spanish Sahara (song).

Province of the Sahara Provincia del Sahara (Spanish) إقليم الصحراء الإسبانية ما وراء البحار (Arabic)
1884–1976
Flag of Spain (1945–1977) Coat of arms (1955–1975)
Anthem: Marcha Real (1884–1931, 1942–1976) Himno de Riego (1931–1942)
Green: Spanish Sahara. Light grey: Other Spanish possessions. Dark grey: Spain.
Status	Colony of Spain (1884–1958) Province of Spain (1958–1976)
Capital and largest city	Villa Cisneros (1884–1940) El Aaiún (1940–1976)
Common languages	Spanish Hassaniya Arabic
Religion	Roman Catholicism Sunni Islam
Government	Spanish colonial government
Head of State
• 1884–1885 (first)	Alfonso XII
• 1936–1975	Caudillo Francisco Franco
• 1975–1976 (last)	Juan Carlos I
Governor-General
• 1884–1902 (first)	Emilio Bonelli
• 1974–1976 (last)	Federico Gómez de Salazar y Nieto
Historical era	New Imperialism, World War I, World War II, Cold War
• Berlin Conference	26 December 1884
• Madrid Accords	14 November 1975
• SADR established	26 February 1976
Population
• 1970	Template:&approx Europeans
• 1974	Template:&approx Sahrawis
Currency	Spanish peseta
Preceded by Succeeded by Spanish West Africa Morocco Tiris al-Gharbiyya Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Ifni
Today part of	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Liberated territories) Morocco

Spanish Sahara (Spanish: Sahara Español; Arabic: الصحراء الإسبانية As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain between 1884 and 1976. It had been one of the most recent acquisitions of, as well as one of the last remaining holdings of the Spanish Empire, which had once extended from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies.

Between 1946 and 1958, the Spanish Sahara was amalgamated with the nearby Spanish-protected Cape Juby and Spanish Ifni to form a new colony, Spanish West Africa. This was reversed during the Ifni War when Ifni and the Sahara became provinces of Spain separately, two days apart, while Cape Juby was ceded to Morocco in the peace deal.

Spain gave up its Saharan possession following Moroccan demands and international pressure, mainly from United Nations resolutions regarding decolonisation. There was internal pressure from the native Sahrawi population, through the Polisario Front, and the claims of Morocco and Mauritania. After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to the territory as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. Mauritania claimed the territory for a number of years on a historical basis, but dropped all claims in 1979.

In 1975, Morocco occupied much of the territory, now known as Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front, promoting the sovereignty of an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), fought a guerrilla war for 16 years against Morocco. In 1991, the UN negotiated a ceasefire and has tried to arrange negotiations and a referendum to let the population vote on its future. Morocco controls the entire Atlantic coast and most of the landmass, population and natural resources of Western Sahara.

Spanish period

Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1935.

At the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), the European powers were establishing the rules for setting up zones of influence or protection in Africa, and Spain declared 'a protectorate of the African coast' from Cape Blanc to Cape Bojador on 26 December 1884. It officially informed the other powers in writing on 14 January 1885. It began establishing trading posts and a military presence. In July 1885, King Alfonso XII appointed Emilio Bonelli commissioner of the Río de Oro with civil and military authority. On 6 April 1887, the area was incorporated into the Captaincy General of the Canary Islands for military purposes. In the summer of 1886, under the sponsorship of the Spanish Society of Commercial Geography (Sociedad Española de Geografía Comercial), Julio Cervera Baviera, Felipe Rizzo (1823–1908) and Francisco Quiroga (1853–1894) traversed the territory, which was called Río de Oro, and made topographical and astronomical observations. At the time, geographers had not mapped the territory and its features were not widely known. Their trek is considered the first scientific expedition in that part of the Sahara.Since the xviii th century , Spanish fishermen Canary come near the coast of Western Sahara, where fish abound. At the end of the xix th century , many Africanists companies formed to explore and exploit this territory still largely unknown. On the African continent exclusively colonized by the Germans present in Togo and Cameroon and in East Africa and the Spaniards in the region, the Spaniards want to be the first to claim this territory despite the presence of Arab populations there. Berbers organized into tribes.

Establishment of the protectorate In 1881, the Sociedad Pesquerías Canario-Africanas built a landing stage on Durnford Point , on the site of Villa Cisneros 1 . InJanuary 1884, Emilio Bonelli y Hernando of the Sociedad Española de Africanistas y Colonistas signs a treaty with Sahrawi chiefs who cede the Río de Oro peninsula to Spain but the latter does not take possession of it. the28 november, Emilio Bonelli signs another treaty with three representatives of Oulad bou Sbaa (Sba) which authorizes the establishment of counters: Villa Cisneros (in Río de Oro, now Dakhla ), Puerto Badía (in Angra da Cintra), in Ausserd (in La Guera, current Lagouira ).

On December 26, 1884 , Spain proclaimed a protectorate [ref. necessary] named Río de Oro on the coast from Cape Juby to Guergarate ( Bahia del Oeste ), ostensibly at the request of the local population [ref. necessary] . The protectorate also made it possible to close the door to Donald MacKenzie who was seeking to establish new trading posts on this coast. The Berlin conference ratifies the Spanish claim the following month. Villa Cisneros is the administrative capital and Bonelli has a fort built there with workers from the Canaries. theApril 6, 1873, the Spanish protectorate is extended to Cape Juby delimited by a natural border the Draa river which takes its borders from the Sahara Español from Tan-Tan to current Zag Seguia el-Hamra to the north that the Draa river is compared to the towns of Zag in Tan-Tan as well as 240 kilometers inland to Bir Lehlou to Ausserd at the seaport of Guergueret 2 where the Emirate of Adrar begins near the towns of Zouérate in Fdérick (Mauritania) . It is then placed under the authority of the Governor-General of the Canaries comprising the Canary Islands and Sahara Español (Western Sahara) under the name of "Provincia Ultra Marina de Sahara Español" who appoints a deputy governor. InMarch 1887, Villa Cisneros is attacked and looted by the Oulad Delim then again inMarch 1892 and in November 1894. theMarch 2, 1895, the Spaniards sign an agreement with Sheikh Ould Hakim of Oulad Hakmassaouï 3 . However, inMarch 1898, a gang of Oulad Delim attacks Villa Cisneros again, kills several employees of the Hispano-African Commercial Company ( Compañia Mercantil Hispano-Africana ) which produced globally a production of canned sardines for world trade and plundered them. stocks while the Spaniards flee by boat to Foum el Oued, a coastal town very close to the current capital of Western Sahara (Laayoune).

the June 27, 1900, France and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris which defines the border between the Río de Oro (Spanish) and current Mauritania 4 . theOctober 4, 1904, the Paris convention fixes the borders of Saguia el-Hamra and Cap Juby then the January 29, 1907that of Rio de Oro. theNovember 27, 1911, the Madrid Convention confirms these borders and fixes those of Rio de Oro and Cape Juby with that of Saguia el Hamra where the Spaniards managed to impose themselves and establish the one and only Spanish colony of the Spanish Sahara and Spanish southern Morocco .

Ma El Ainin The Spaniards are venturing in droves into the interior of the Sahara Español lands and thus avoid confrontation with the nomads by establishing a border all along the land borders of the Sahara Español by favoring the sea coasts as meeting places with bars. to Alcohol and food shops and clothing shops and car garages and the interior of Western Sahara to Indigenous Inhabitants from the region of Western Sahara and no possibility outside the country was accessible from entry but only to Indigenous Inhabitants of the Western Sahra region to be able to leave the Español colony of the Sahara Español which was served internationally by air by the current Villa Cisnéros airport in Dakhla. Around 1895, the Sahrawi religious leaderMa El Ainin built a ribat in Smara , until then a simple water point and caravan crossroads, from where he called for holy war against the colonizers. Armed and financed by the Sultan of Morocco against the recognition of his sovereignty over Western Sahara and Mauritania, Ma El Ainin seized Donald MacKenzie's counter in Cap Juby the same year. Around 1905, he sent one of his sons to the Mauritanian Adrar in order to lead the resistance against the French and he was perhaps at the origin of the assassination in Tidjikdja of Xavier Coppolani , the French commissioner of Mauritania (May 12, 1905). In 1909 Ma El Ainin went to Morocco to obtain weapons and then chose to deal with Abd al-Hafid , opposed to the French and brother of Moulay Abd al-Aziz , himself a collaborator. The clashes in 1908-1909 however turn to the advantage of Gouraud, Ma El Ainin is forced to leave Smara (still unfinished) and settles in Tiznit where he proclaims himself Mahdi . theJune 23, 1910, General Moinier defeats an army of 6,000 Moroccans and rebels of the Adrar in Tadla which puts an end to the ambitions of Ma El Ainin.

During World War I , the Germans and the Turks tried to arm the nomads against the French. A German submarine delivered weapons in 1916 but the crew was captured shortly after at Cap Juby by the Spaniards. In 1916, benefiting from the neutrality of Al-Habib and the French towards him, Colonel Francisco Bens drove the Sahrawis from Cap Juby which became Villa Bens. Al-Hiba was pushed back to the Anti-Atlas where he died in 1928; his brother Merebbi Rebbu leads the resistance. Morocco submit the Souss around 1949 resistance is confined to the coastal desert of the Chadian Aid.

In 1932, the relative neutrality of Spain in guerrilla warfare between French and Saharawi ends when a detachment of camel Oulad Delim deserted with their weapons. In 1961, the French defeated the Reguibat and seized Tindouf, junctioning with the Adrar troops and encircling the last Sahrawi resistance fighters. The Spaniards then complete the takeover of their territory through the intermediary of auxiliaries recruited from among the nomads ( Tercio Africanos ) by occupying the localities of Villa Cisneros concentrated around the "Aeropuerto de Villa Cisneros" of the interior including Smara as well as Zag.

Spanish domination The Sahrawis' way of life changes little under the Spanish administration: they remain nomadic pastors with their own traditions, including customary assemblies ( djemaa ), and their own justice ( Muslim law and customary orf ). The Spanish presence itself is limited to a few towns where trade is carried out with the nomads. The city of El Aaiún ( Laâyoune ) was founded in 1938 after the discovery of a significant water table 5 .

Throughout the Spanish colonization, Spanish settlers will be rare, never really exceeding 15,000 people. A large number worked in the fishing industry on the coast, where the fish were plentiful, but they did not compete with the fishermen of the Canary Islands, more organized and closer to the high seas. Many Spaniards worked in the administration colonial or public works. But the majority served in the army or the Legion, which maintained order in the territory. Despite great efforts, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, this colony did not attract the Spaniards, who preferred to immigrate to France or Latin America. From 1947, the Spanish colonial authorities took note of the failure of the settlement policy and moderated it.

During World War II , the Spaniards undertook the first scientific exploration campaign of Western Sahara, the Estudios Saharianos , and improved the economic and social infrastructure of the territory 6 . In 1947, Spain founded Spanish West Africa ( África Occidental Española ) which included Ifni , the Tarfaya Band, the Seguia el-Hamra and the Río de Oro . From the 1950s, several droughts push part of the nomadic population to settle in urban areas which brings them into contact with the Spaniards and causes new tensions linked to the colonial status. Following pressure from the UN, in 1949, education became compulsory for the children of the colony, who would learn the Spanish language between 1949 and 1975.

Start of decolonization

" Greater Morocco ". The Morocco gained independence in 1956. Under the leadership of nationalists as Allal al-Fassi and his party Istiqlal , he then proceeds to restore its territorial integrity with the goal of a " Greater Morocco " gathering all lands which historically belonged to one period or another in the Kingdom of Morocco. Supported by all the member countries of the Arab League, it thus claims all the territories still controlled by the Spaniards and part of the territories controlled by the French (a portion of the Sahara around Tindouf and Bechar as well as Mauritania until Saint-Louis of Senegalbut not Mali , which Al-Fassi claims without support 7 ). He opposed the independence of Mauritania in 1960 and then its admission to the UN the following year and did not recognize it until 1969 8 . Mauritania will only be a member in the Arab League after its recognition by Morocco . After the sand war of 1963, he also gave up Tindouf 9 .

In 1957, Moktar Ould Daddah , the future founder of Mauritania, declared: “In a word, we claim to be part of this same desert civilization of which we are so justly proud. I therefore invite our brothers in the Spanish Sahara to think about this great economic and spiritual Mauritania 10 . » , And thus launches the idea of ​​a Greater Mauritania. The discovery of immense phosphate deposits in Boukraa by Manuel Alia Medina from 1947 and especially in the 1960s suddenly made Western Sahara economically viable (the first exports only startedMay 1973). It then attracts the envy of its neighbors: Morocco, in addition to the idea of ​​a " Greater Morocco ", hopes to control the main potential competitor of its own phosphate deposits. The Mauritania wants it to find additional resources. For its part, Franco's Spain no longer has any inclination to decolonize this land which has become rich. Finally, according to Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff, the Sahrawis themselves, who have never formed a nation, discover that the desert contains more than pasture and water for their herds and design nationalism from scratch 11 .

Ifni War

The Spanish possessions in 1956. In 1956, Morocco created an army for the liberation of southern Morocco , composed mainly of Sahrawi tribes in order to fight against the Spanish occupation of the enclave of Sidi Ifni and of Western Sahara. The Ifni war begins inOctober 1957.

Spanish reforms The Spanish Sahara was created onJanuary 12, 1958by bringing together the territories of Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. The same year, Spain ceded the Tarfaya band to Morocco and dissolved Spanish West Africa; Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro become Spanish provinces in their own right, electing their representatives to the Cortes Generales (which have virtually no power under Franco ), while Ifni obtains a municipal council. theApril 19, 1961, El Aaiún becomes the capital of the Spanish Sahara. In 1962, Spain launched a new plan for economic modernization. The first municipal elections were held in 1963 and then every two years. In 1967, Spain set up a territorial assembly, the Jemaa (or Yemaa ), which also had virtually no power 12 . In 1949, with pressure from the United Nations, schooling for children became compulsory up to the age of 16. However, nomadic Bedouin children will escape schooling.

Right to self-determination As early as 1963 , the Spanish Sahara was included at the request of Morocco on the list of non-self-governing territories . Morocco is then convinced that the Sahrawis massively wish to join the kingdom, and that a self-determination vote would only be a simple formality. theDecember 17, 1965, in its resolution 2072 13 , the General Assembly of the United Nations invites Spain to immediately take the necessary measures for the liberation from the colonial domination of the territories of Ifni and of the Spanish Sahara and to initiate negotiations on the problems relating to sovereignty posed by these two territories. Spain and Portugal vote against the resolution while France, South Africa , UK and US abstain.

Consequently, this question is included each year on the agenda of the fourth decolonization commission and is the subject of seven additional resolutions of the General Assembly between 1966 and 1973, urging Spain to implement this. right to self - determination .

Foundation independence movements After the crushing of the uprisings of 1957-1958, it was necessary to wait several years before the reconstitution of new movements, first pacifist then more inclined to obtain independence by force. The first independence movement, the Frente de Liberacíon del Sahara bajo Dominacíon Española , was founded in 1966 but it took no action 14 . In 1967, Mohammed Bassiri founded the Harakat Tahrir Saghia al-Hamra wa Wadi al-Dhahab ( liberation movement of Seguia el-Hamra and Oued ed-Dahab ), peaceful precursor of the Polisario 14 . theJune 17, 1970, demonstrators led by Mohammed Bassiri bring a petition to the Governor General of the Spanish Sahara in Taidalt . As the demonstration disperses, the police attempt to arrest the ringleaders; the demonstrators resist, the government brings in the Tercio Africanos who shoot at the crowd, killing 11 people. Hundreds of people were arrested in the following days, including Bassiri who disappeared in prison, probably murdered or tortured to death. In 1968, Fateh Assaoyaf (Moha R'guibi) founded the Revolutionary Movement of the Blue Men - the (Mirbaoiy) - which claimed attachment to Morocco and opposed the separatists.

In 1971, El-Ouali Moustapha Sayed , a Saharawi then a law student, and other students in Rabat began to consider the possibility of liberating Western Sahara by force while refusing any Moroccan interference. In 1973, the Moroccan authorities intervened to dissolve his group and Malik fled into the desert. theMay 10, 1973, the Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro or Front Polisario is founded in Said blahtah (Mauritania) in order to force Spain by force to renounce colonization but also in opposition to the attachment with Morocco and the Mauritania. El-Ouali Moustapha Sayed is elected general secretary. theMay 20, during the Mcoyai raid, the Polisario seized a military post and seized weapons 15 . To counter the Polisario, Hassan II encouraged in 1975 the foundation of the Front for Liberation and Unity (FLU), pro-Moroccan 16 . Finally, inFebruary 1975, the Spaniards authorize a Partido de la Union Nacional Sahraoui in order to maintain a link with Spain but its leader, Khalihenna Ould Rachid, swears allegiance to the Moroccan king and quickly rallies to Morocco 17 . Like Khalihenna Ould Rachid, several Sahrawi chioukhs pledge allegiance to Morocco.

Opinion of the International Court of Justice the Aug 21, 1974, Spain announces the holding of a self-determination referendum for the beginning of 1975. The king of Morocco Hassan II then declares to oppose, including by force, any referendum which could lead to the independence of the contested territory; theSeptember 17, he proposes arbitration by the International Court of Justice 18 . In October, during the OAU summit in Rabat, Morocco and Mauritania orally conclude a secret agreement in order to divide up the territory 19 . Algeria is then publicly in favor of an independent and non-aligned Western Sahara , but it seems that it endorsed the Mauritanian-Moroccan agreement 20 .

Spain carried out a rapid census of the population of the Spanish Sahara in 1974 in order to determine the list of participants in the self-determination ballot. The census concludes with a population of 70 to 80,000 inhabitants, but does not take into account the Sahrawis refugees in neighboring countries, nor the nomads. The Polisario, on the other hand, estimates the population at 250–300,000 people. theDecember 13, 1974, the UN General Assembly adopts resolution 3292 21 . It reaffirms the right to self-determination of the Spanish Sahara, asks the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the status and legal ties of the territory and mandates a visiting mission in the territory.

The mission takes place in May-June 1975and visits Western Sahara and neighboring countries. She presented her report to the UN onOctober 15and concludes with an "overwhelming consensus among the Sahrawis living in the territory in favor of independence and in opposition to integration with any neighboring country 22 " . The leaders of the mission also note a massive support of the population in favor of the Polisario Front. theOctober 16, 1975, the International Court of Justice delivers its opinion: it recognizes that the territory of Western Sahara was not terra nullius before colonization by Spain and that it had legal ties of allegiance with Morocco and the whole of Mauritania . However, it finds no link of territorial sovereignty. It concludes that these links are not likely to hinder “the application of the principle of self-determination through the free and authentic expression of the will of the populations of the territory” 23 .

Green March and the end of the Spanish term The day after the opinion of the International Court of Justice, Hassan II announced the organization of a " Green March " for which the logistics were already in place 24 in order to "expel the colonialist infidels from Moroccan soil" and incorporate Western Sahara into Morocco . The call to the March is a huge success: 500,000 Moroccans flock to Tarfayanear the border and a system of quotas and raffles determines who can cross it. At the beginning of November, 350,000 civilians organized in a peaceful march, brandishing the Moroccan flag and the Koran, crossed the border in order to support the Moroccan territorial claim; they are supported by some 20,000 Moroccan soldiers while the Spaniards retreated ten kilometers to the south. On the 6th, the United Nations Security Council approved resolution 380 which "asks Morocco to immediately withdraw from the territory of Western Sahara all the participants in the march 25 " . theNovember 9, Hassan II orders the marchers, who have stopped in front of the minefields laid by the Spaniards, to turn around. The Green March allows Hassan II to consolidate his power around Moroccan nationalist sentiment 26 , and Moroccan determination pushes the Spaniards to negotiate.

the November 14, 1975, while Franco is dying, the Spanish government signs the Madrid agreements with Morocco and Mauritania . The territory is divided: the northern two thirds for Morocco, the southern third for Mauritania. Spain obtains concessions for Boukraa phosphate and fishing. The local population is not consulted and the Polisario Front violently opposes the agreements. Algeria is also excluded from the agreements, mainly because it wanted to prevent Spain from continuing the exploitation of the phosphate of Boukraa 27 , and it undertakes the diplomatic, financial and military support of the Polisario. theDecember 10, the UN General Assembly adopts resolution 3458, which approves the report of the visiting mission and the conclusions of the International Court of Justice, including the establishment of a referendum on self-determination, and calls on all the parties concerned "to put an end to any unilateral or other action which would override the decisions of the General Assembly relating to the territory 28 " .

In Tarfaya , an aerodrome was built in 1927 to serve as a stopover for Aéropostale , the city remained underdeveloped. Attached to Morocco after the Ifni war in 1958, it was not until 1976 that a port was built there.

On entering the territory in 1884, Spanish forces were immediately challenged by stiff resistance from the indigenous Sahrawi tribes, Saharan Berbers who lived in many oases and coastal villages. The indigenous people worked mainly in fishing and camel herding, and speak the Hassaniya language, a Bedouin Arabic dialect. A rebellion in 1904 was led by the powerful Smara-based marabout, Shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, was put down by France in 1910, which ruled neighbouring Algeria. This was followed by a wave of uprisings under Ma al-Aynayn's sons, grandsons and other political leaders.

In 1886, Spain signed the Treaty of Idjil, by which the Emirate of Adrar ceded the land of the colony to Spain. This treaty was of no legal value, since the Emir had no claim to the territory, the Spanish 'invented' a claim which the Emir could, with no harm to himself, immediately cede.

There is some dispute and ambiguity about whether the territory was under Moroccan royal sovereignty at the time when the Spanish claimed it in 1884. According to the two sixteenth-century treaties, quoted by the historian Romeu (Vol. 1): the Treaty of Alcáçovas and the Treaty of Cintra, between Spain and Portugal, they recognize that the authority of Morocco extended beyond Cabo Bojador. Then there is the treaty between Morocco and Spain of 1 March 1767. This treaty, according to Article 18 of which Sherifian sovereignty extended beyond the Wad Noun, Le., further south into the neighbouring region of Sakiet El Hamra, this is further establish in the Anglo-Moroccan Agreement of 13 March 1895 that Moroccan territory extends to Cabo Bojador, including Sakiet El Hamra. The International Court of Justice found in their Advisory opinion on Western Sahara of 1975 they were legal ties of allegiance (Bay'ah) between this territory and the Kingdom of Morocco but they didn't extend to sovereignty over the territory.

The borders of the territory were not clearly defined until treaties between Spain and France in the early 20th century. Spanish Sahara was created from the Spanish territories of Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra in 1924. It was not part of the areas known as Spanish Morocco and was administered separately.

Modern history

Sahrawi family in Spanish Sahara between 1970 and 1974.

After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to Spanish Sahara as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. In 1957, the Moroccan Army of Liberation nearly occupied the small territory of Ifni, north of Spanish Sahara, during the Ifni War. The Spanish sent a regiment of paratroopers from the nearby Canary Islands and repelled the attacks. With the assistance of the French, Spain soon re-established control in the area through Operaciones Teide-Ecoubillon (Spanish name) / Opérations Ecouvillon (French name).

It tried to suppress resistance politically. It forced some of the previously nomadic inhabitants of Spanish Sahara to settle in certain areas, and the rate of urbanisation was increased. In 1958, Spain united the territories of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro to form the overseas province of Spanish Sahara, while ceding the province of the Cape Juby strip (which included Villa Bens) in the same year to Morocco.

In the 1960s, Morocco continued to claim Spanish Sahara. It gained agreement by the United Nations to add the territory to the list of territories to be decolonised. In 1969, Spain returned Ifni to Morocco, but continued to retain Spanish Sahara.

In 1967, Spanish rule was challenged by the Harakat Tahrir, a protest movement secretly organised by the Royal Moroccan Government. Spain suppressed the 1970 Zemla Intifada.

In 1973, the Polisario Front was formed in a revival of militant Sahrawi nationalism. The Front's guerrilla army grew rapidly, and Spain lost effective control over most of the territory by early 1975. Its effort to found a political rival, the Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS), met with little success. Spain proceeded to co-opt tribal leaders by setting up the Djema'a, a political institution loosely based on traditional Sahrawi tribal leaders. The Djema'a members were hand-picked by the authorities, but given privileges in return for rubber-stamping Madrid's decisions.

In the winter of 1975, just before the death of its long-time dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain was confronted with an intensive campaign of territorial demands from Morocco and, to a lesser extent, from Mauritania. These culminated in the Marcha Verde ('Green March'). After negotiating the Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, Spain withdrew its forces and settlers from the territory.

Morocco and Mauritania took control of the region. Mauritania later surrendered its claim after fighting an unsuccessful war against the Polisario Front. Morocco began fighting the Polisario Front, and after sixteen years, the UN negotiated a cease-fire in 1991. Today, the sovereignty of the territory remains in dispute. And referendum had not been possible to date due to dispute over who can vote

Present status

Postage stamp issued in 1924.

The United Nations considers the former Spanish Sahara a non-self-governing territory, with Spain as the former administrative power and, since the 1970s, Morocco as the current administrative power.

UN peace efforts have been directed at holding a referendum on independence among the Sahrawi population, but this has not yet taken place. The African Union (AU) and more than 80 governments consider the territory to be the sovereign (albeit occupied) state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with a government-in-exile backed by the Polisario Front.

See also

• List of colonial governors of Spanish Sahara
• International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara
• History of Western Sahara
• Moroccan Army of Liberation
• Southern Provinces
• Tiris al-Gharbiyya
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
• Spanish West Africa

References

Media related to Spanish Sahara at Wikimedia Commons