La Güera

La Güera (Arabic: الكويرة‎ al-Kūwayra; also known as La Agüera, Lagouira, El Gouera) is a ghost town on the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Western Sahara, on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula which is split in two by the Mauritania–Western Sahara border, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of Nouadhibou. It is also the name of a daira at the Sahrawi refugee camps in south-western Algeria.

For the airport, see La Güera Airport.

La Güera الكويرة  (Arabic)
Ghost town
La Güera ruins, January 2003
La Güera Location in Western Sahara
Coordinates: 20°50′N 17°5′W
Claimed by	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Morocco
Controlled by	Mauritania
Founded	30 November 1920
Population  (2004)
• Total	3,726
Time zone	GMT

It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara, claimed by the Kingdom of Morocco. La Güera is situated south of the Moroccan Wall, and is technically abandoned by Moroccan forces. In January 2015, the Polisario established a military presence in La Güera.[1]

History

The name La Güera comes from the Spanish word Agüera which is a ditch that carries rainwater to crops.

Foundation and settlement

Residence of the Spanish Governor in La Güera, 1935

La Güera came into existence in late 1920, when Spanish colonizer Francisco Bens (who had earlier taken possession of the Cape Juby region as a protectorate in 1916), after negotiating with tribal chiefs of the zone, established a fort and an air base on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, just a few kilometres away from the French settlement of Port-Étienne (now Nouadhibou) on the eastern side of the peninsula. (In the 1912 Convention of Madrid, Spain and France had agreed on a border between Mauritania and Spanish possessions that ran down the middle of the peninsula.)

In 1924, La Güera was incorporated into the Spanish colony of Río de Oro. During the short period (1920–1924) that the town was ruled as a separate part of the colony it released its own postage stamps.[2][3] The town was served by La Güera Airport until the 1970s.

Western Sahara War

Main article: Battles of La Güera and Tichla

In 1979, when Mauritania withdrew from the war, La Güera's population was estimated to be 816 inhabitants.[4]

By 2002, it had been abandoned and partially overblown by sand, inhabited only by a few Imraguen fishermen[5][6] and guarded by a Mauritanian military outpost, despite this not being Mauritanian territory.[6]

Twin towns and sister cities

Signboard showing, among others, the twinning of La Güera with the Spanish town of Crevillent

• Águilas, Murcia, Spain (since July 18, 2005)[7]
• Alaquàs, Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain (since April 14, 2004)[8]
• Almansa, Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain [9]
• Castagneto Carducci, Livorno, Tuscany, Italy[10]
• Crevillent, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain[11]
• El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain (since 1993)[12]
• Fauglia, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy (since 2009)[10]
• Gorliz, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[13]
• Guadix, Granada, Andalucía, Spain
• Iurreta, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[14]
• Leganés, Madrid, Spain (since August 17, 2001)[15]
• Monteriggioni, Siena, Tuscany, Italy[10]
• Orio, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain[16]
• San Marcello Piteglio, Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy[10]
• Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain (since October 29, 1986 -First twinning between a Sahrawi and a Spanish town-)[17]
• Valle de Yerri, Navarra, Spain (since September 29, 2005)[18]
• Vitoria, Álava, Basque Country, Spain (since 1987)[19]

See also

• Postage stamps and postal history of La Agüera
• La Güera Airport
• Imraguen people

References

1. "لكويرة تحت سيطرة الجيش الصحراوي بالتنسيق مع موريتانيا". Retrieved 24 October 2016.
2. Stamp Issuers – La Aguera Archived 2016-08-31 at the Wayback Machine Stampsofdistinction.com, 24 March 2008
3. SELLOS DE COLONIAS ESPAÑOLAS LA AGÜERA Todocoleccion.net (in Spanish)
4. "Sahara occidental: un conflicto de grandes repercusiones para España" (in Spanish). Domingodelpino.com (Leviatán magazine). 1985-08-31. Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
5. (in French) Abdallah Ben Ali, Guéguerre à Lagouira, Maroc Hebdo International, issue 534, 22–28 November 2002
6. (in French) Redouane Ramdani, Enquête: Aux frontières du réel Archived 2013-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, TelQuel, issue 248, 18–24 November 2004
7. Águilas y la Güera se hermanan Aguilasnoticias.com, 19 July 2005 (in Spanish)
8. 11.- PROTOCOLO DE COOPERACIÓN ENTRE EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE ALAQUÀS Y LA DAIRA LA GÜERA.- PROPUESTA DE APROBACIÓN. Alaquas.org (in Spanish)
9. Veinte años de hermanamiento almanseño con Saint Mèdard La Verdad, 16 May 2010 (in Spanish)
10. Gemellaggi e Patti di Amicizia Regione Toscana – Consiglio Regionale, 27 March 2010 (in Italian)
11. Ayuntamiento de Crevillent – Composición Crevillent.es (in Spanish)
12. En 2013 se celebrará el 20 aniversario del hermanamiento con el pueblo saharaui Andaluciainformacion.es, 9 October 2012 (in Spanish)
13. Hermanos lejanos El Correo, 24 August 2008 (in Spanish)
14. "Aytº de Iurreta (Bizkaia)" (in Spanish). Euskal Fondoa. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
15. La Güera, Sáhara Leganes.org (in Spanish)
16. "Aytº de Orio (Gipuzkoa)" (in Spanish). Euskal Fondoa. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
17. Acta del pleno municipal sobre el Hermanamiento de Santa Lucía con la Güera. 1986 Lefrig.org (in Spanish)
18. Hermanamiento Yerri.es, 29 September 2005 (in Spanish)
19. Un libro de fotografías conmemora el XX aniversario del hermanamiento de Vitoria con la Daira de la Güera El Diario Vasco, 2 March 2008 (in Spanish)

External links

• Map of Ras Nouadhibou peninsula
• El Último Testigo La Agüera Memories of the son of a Spanish lieutenant in La Güera during the 1930s (in Spanish)