Smara (also romanized Semara , Arabic : السمارة , Hassaniyya: [(ə)s.smaːra] ; Spanish : Esmara ) is a city in the Moroccan -controlled part of Western Sahara , with a population of 57,035 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census . It is served by Smara Airport and Smara bus station.
6-527: The largest city in its province, Smara, was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. In the center of the city the remains of a stone fortress can be found, the Zawiy Maalainin, which enclosed a mosque. The Maalainin lived there from 1830 until 1912. It was made a capital and religious center in 1902 by shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn , in what was then Spanish Sahara . The location of
12-523: The Spanish occupation. Reaching Ma el Ainain's mysterious Smara was the goal of the brothers Vieuchange, early 20th-century French writers and romantics. Michel Vieuchange 's painful journey through the rebel-held Sahrawi lands in 1930 disguised as a Berber tribeswoman, eventually reaching Smara on 1 November 1930, and the dysentery that led to his death on the return, is documented in his journals. Comprising seven notebooks and more than 200 photographs,
18-532: The account was published posthumously in 1932 as Smara: The Forbidden City (1932) by his brother Jean and became a bestseller. In 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia Elhamra as Spain withdrew, according to the Madrid Accords. The Moroccan army took the city from the Polisario Front in 1976. Near Tindouf , Algeria , there still exists a Sahrawi refugee camp named after Smara. It is one of
24-428: The city was intended to ensure its becoming a caravan trade hub in the sparsely populated Sahara desert . The enlargement of Smara was carried out by local Sahrawis as well as craftsmen sent by the sultan Hassan I . In 1902, shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn moved to Smara and declared it his holy capital. Among other things, he created an important Islamic library, and the town became a center of religious learning. In 1904
30-834: The four camps of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic administration in Algeria . The town is controlled by the Moroccan authorities, as part of what the government terms its Southern Provinces , and enclosed by a section of the Moroccan Wall . CTM, Supratours and Satas companies have daily travels from Smara to Agadir. Supratours have daily travel from Smara to Laayoune. 26°44′22″N 11°40′13″W / 26.73944°N 11.67028°W / 26.73944; -11.67028 Saguia el-Hamra Too Many Requests If you report this error to
36-529: The shaykh declared himself an imam and called for holy war ( jihad ) against French colonialism, which was increasingly pressing into the Sahara at this time. During the campaign against Ma al-'Aynayn, Smara was sacked almost completely in 1913 by the French Army , and its library destroyed. The town was then handed over to the Spanish. In 1934 the town was once again destroyed after Sahrawi rebellions against
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