La Güera

Coordinates: 20°50′N 17°5.5′W / 20.833°N 17.0917°W / 20.833; -17.0917

La Güera الكويرة
Ghost town
La Güera ruins, January 2003
La Güera Location in Western Sahara
Coordinates: 20°50′N 17°5′W / 20.833°N 17.083°W / 20.833; -17.083
Claimed by	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Controlled by	Mauritania
Founded	30 November 1920
Population (2004)
• Total	3,726
Time zone	GMT

La Güera (also known as La Agüera, Lagouira, or El Gouera) (Arabic: الكويرة) is a ghost town on the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Western Sahara, on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, 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. The name comes from the Spanish word Agüera which is a ditch that carries rainwater to crops. By 2002, it had been abandoned and partially overblown by sand, inhabited only by a few Imraguen fishermen^[1][2] and guarded by a Mauritanian military outpost, despite this not being Mauritanian territory.^[2]

It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara, claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; however, Lagouira is situated south of the Moroccan Wall, and abandoned by both Moroccan and Polisario Front forces.

History

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 miles 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.^[3][4] The town was served by La Güera Airport until the 1970s.

Western Sahara War

In 1979, when Mauritania withdrew from the war, La Güera's population was estimated to be 816 inhabitants.^[5]

Twin towns - sister cities

Águilas, Murcia, Spain (since July 18, 2005)[6] Alaquàs, Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain (since April 14, 2004)[7] Almansa, Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain [8] Castagneto Carducci, Livorno, Tuscany, Italy[9] Crevillente, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain[10] El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain (since 1993)[11] Fauglia, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy (since 2009)[9] Górliz, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[12] Guadix, Granada, Andalucía, Spain Iurreta, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[13]

Signboard showing, among others, the twinning of La Güera with the Spanish town of Crevillente Leganés, Madrid, Spain (since August 17, 2001)[14] Monteriggioni, Siena, Tuscany, Italy[9] Orio, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain[15] Piteglio, Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy[9] Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain (since October 29, 1986 -First twinning between a Sahrawi and a Spanish town-)[16] Valle de Yerri, Navarra, Spain (since September 29, 2005)[17] Vitoria, Álava, Basque Country, Spain (since 1987)[18]

See also

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

References

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 (Spanish)

Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab
Capital: Dakhla
Provinces	Oued Ed-Dahab Province Aousserd Province
Cities	Dakhla Lagouira

Aousserd Prefecture
Capital: Bir Gandouz
Municipalities	Lagouira
Rural communes	Aghouinite Aousserd Bir Gandouz Tichla Zoug