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
La Güera
La Güera (Africa)
Coordinates: 20°50′N 17°5′W
Claimed byMorocco
Controlled byMauritania
Founded30 November 1920
Population
 (2004)
 • Total3,726
Time zoneGMT

It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara. La Güera is situated south of the Moroccan Wall, and is technically abandoned.

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.[1][2] 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.[3]

By 2002, it had been abandoned and partially overblown by sand, inhabited only by a few Imraguen fishermen[4][5] and guarded by a Mauritanian military outpost, despite this not being Mauritanian territory.[5]

Twin towns and sister cities
Signboard showing, among others, the twinning of La Güera with the Spanish town of Crevillent

See also

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