Back in March, an email landed in my inbox from Irish airline Ryanair asking me if I was ready for my “next Moroccan adventure”.
Sprawling along a windswept peninsula where the Sahara meets the Atlantic, the city of Dakhla certainly looked attractive.
I would have to make my way to Madrid first, but from the Spanish capital return flights to Dakhla start from just €30 ($35).
There are dozens of accommodation options too, from hostels to brand new luxury getaways advertising the area as Morocco’s hidden gem.
But, despite what the adverts and websites say, any tourist making the trip would be landing in one of the world’s longest ongoing territorial disputes.
That is because Dakhla is in Western Sahara, an area which the United Nations classifies as a “non-self-governing territory”. By this it means that the local population isn’t able to govern itself.
Instead, some 80% of Western Sahara is occupied and administered by Morocco, its northern neighbour. Morocco considers Western Sahara to be part of its sovereign territory, calling it its “southern provinces”.
The UN has consistently pushed for a solution to the 50-year dispute, including a referendum, but the indigenous people of the area have never been able to vote for their own future.
