Madrid (Spain), 27 October 2026 (SPS) – A report entitled “Tourism in the Context of Occupation: Dakhla, from Military Base to Pearl of the Sahara”, presented on Monday in Madrid by the Sahrawi Working Group on Natural Resources and Legal Issues, has warned that tourism projects in occupied Western Sahara contribute to entrenching Morocco’s occupation and normalising its control over the territory.
The report examines the transformation of occupied Dakhla from a military outpost established during Morocco’s 1975 invasion into a tourist destination promoted internationally for water sports and leisure activities. It argues that tourism is used to portray the territory as part of Morocco while obscuring its unresolved decolonisation status.
According to the report, tourism development favours Moroccan and foreign investors while marginalising the Sahrawi population and restricting its access to land, coastal areas and natural resources. It also raises environmental concerns over construction and hotel projects in Dakhla Bay, warning of potential damage to fragile marine and coastal ecosystems.
The study further highlights the role of tourism infrastructure and air links, including Ryanair flights, in integrating occupied Western Sahara into Morocco’s economic and commercial networks, despite the territory’s status as a non-self-governing territory on the UN list of territories awaiting decolonisation.
The report warns that tourism-related activities risk providing economic resources and political cover for the occupation, prolonging the conflict and undermining the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
The report was presented at an event held at London Hall, Impact Hub Alameda, in Madrid, organised by the Sahrawi Working Group on Natural Resources and Legal Issues.
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