Lagouira
La Güera
Ghost town in Western Sahara
La Güera (Arabic: الڭويرة al-Gūwayra; 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.
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La Güera
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 La Güera ruins, January 2003 | |
  La Güera Location in Western Sahara Show map of Western Sahara La Güera La Güera (Africa) Show map of Africa | |
| Coordinates: 20°50′N 17°5′W | |
| UN Non-Self-Governing Territory | Western Sahara |
| Claimed by |  Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic |
| Controlled by |  Mauritania (de facto) |
| Founded | 30 November 1920 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 87.8 km2 (33.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 3,726 |
| • Density | 42/km2 (110/sq mi) |
| Time zone | GMT |
It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara. La Güera is situated south of the Moroccan Wall, and is technically abandoned.
The name La Güera comes from the Spanish word Agüera which is a ditch that carries rainwater to crops.
Foundation and settlement
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
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]
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]- Crevillent, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain[10]
- El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain (since 1993)[11]
- Fauglia, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy (since 2009)[9]
- Gorliz, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[12]
- Guadix, Granada, Andalucía, Spain
- Iurreta, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain[13]
- Leganés, Madrid, Spain (since August 17, 2001)[14]
- Londa, Florence, Tuscany, Italy (since 2017)[15]
- Monteriggioni, Siena, Tuscany, Italy[9]
- Orio, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain[16]
- San Marcello 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-)[17]
- Valle de Yerri, Navarra, Spain (since September 29, 2005)[18]
- Vitoria, Álava, Basque Country, Spain (since 1987)[19]
- Stamp Issuers – La Aguera Archived 2016-08-31 at the Wayback Machine Stampsofdistinction.com, 24 March 2008
- SELLOS DE COLONIAS ESPAÑOLAS LA AGÜERA Todocoleccion.net (in Spanish)
- "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.
- (in French) Abdallah Ben Ali, Guéguerre à Lagouira[permanent dead link], Maroc Hebdo International, issue 534, 22–28 November 2002
- (in French) Redouane Ramdani, Enquête: Aux frontières du réel Archived 2013-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, TelQuel, issue 248, 18–24 November 2004
- Águilas y la Güera se hermanan Aguilasnoticias.com, 19 July 2005 (in Spanish)
- Veinte años de hermanamiento almanseño con Saint Mèdard La Verdad, 16 May 2010 (in Spanish)
- Gemellaggi e Patti di Amicizia[permanent dead link] Regione Toscana – Consiglio Regionale, 27 March 2010 (in Italian)
- Ayuntamiento de Crevillent – Composición Crevillent.es (in Spanish)
- En 2013 se celebrará el 20 aniversario del hermanamiento con el pueblo saharaui Andaluciainformacion.es, 9 October 2012 (in Spanish)
- Hermanos lejanos El Correo, 24 August 2008 (in Spanish)
- "Aytº de Iurreta (Bizkaia)" (in Spanish). Euskal Fondoa. Retrieved 2013-02-14.[permanent dead link]
- La Güera, Sáhara Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Leganes.org (in Spanish)
- "Italian Londa municipality and its Sahrawi countrapart Legüera signs a twinning agreement". www.spsrasd.info (in European Spanish). August 9, 2017. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017.
- "Aytº de Orio (Gipuzkoa)" (in Spanish). Euskal Fondoa. Retrieved 2013-02-14.[permanent dead link]
- Acta del pleno municipal sobre el Hermanamiento de Santa Lucía con la Güera. 1986 Lefrig.org (in Spanish)
- Hermanamiento Yerri.es, 29 September 2005 (in Spanish)
- 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)
