El Aaiún

El Aaiún

El-Aaiún (also French: "Laâyoune"; Arabic: العيون, transliterated al-ˁuyūn, lit. "The Springs"), is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish colonizers in 1928. It has been occupied and administered by Morocco, which claims Western Sahara as a part of its territory, since 1976. El-Aaiún is the capital Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra region. The Polisario Front, which claims Western Sahara sovereignty as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, considers the city its occupied capital. The town is divided in two by the dry river of "Saguia el Hamra". On the south side is the old lower town, constructed by the Spanish. A cathedral from that era is still in operation, with priests dividing their time between this town and Dakhla further south.