Western Sahara: Laayaoune

The political situation in Western Sahara is complicated to say the least.

When the Spanish withdrew in 1975, Morocco & Mauritania fought for control, with over 20,000 deaths and bombing, poisoning and displacement of Sahrawi people, tens of thousands of whom are still living in refugee camps in neighbouring Algeria, dependent on aid.

Mauritania withdrew in 1979 and Morocco took control of about 80% of the territory (the section along the coast, with the phosphate and other resources) and during the 80s built a 2,700km defensive wall to separate what it calls its ‘southern provinces’ from the remaining 20% territory which the Sahrawi call ‘free zones’.

I guess an advantage to having an absolutist royal dynasty which owns most of the nation’s big companies, including aggregates and construction, is completion of these major infrastructure projects (not to give Dominic Cummings ideas).

Our drive took us along the N1 and it was truly breathtaking driving along a thin stretch of tarmac through sand dunes.

The only radio signal came from the Canary Islands, 100 miles off the coast. Which meant our soundtrack was Club Anthems, ads for cosmetic surgery in Fuerteventura and Ed Sheeran, because no matter how remote you are you can’t get away from him.

The coast line was ragged with a 30m drop to the sea, so quite exhilarating to stand close.

The emergency driver got to drive along this easy, traffic-free route whilst the main, experienced driver learned important skills like how to keep retuning the radio.

The route was littered with shredded car tyres and occasional lagoons like this one with a flock of shy flamingos.

We passed two guys cycling the route with bulging panniers who we’d spotted in Tan Tan the night before and felt very impressed and lazy.

There were frequent Gendarmerie Royale checkpoints. With a 4×4, British number plates and fuel jerry cans we were surprised not to be stopped until we got to Laayaoune, where a guard wanted to know our jobs, looked at our passports and asked us about the Grosvenor Hotel in London where a friend of his worked.