Often called "the last colony of Africa," Western Sahara remains one of the world’s last Non-Self-Governing Territories — although its history is far longer and more complex than that phrase suggests.

For centuries, the territory was inhabited by Sahrawi tribes of Berber and Arab origin, organized into nomadic societies connected to trans-Saharan trade networks and Islamic centres of learning. While they maintained cultural and religious ties with neighbouring regions, they were not governed by any centralized state.

This relative autonomy shifted in the late 19th century, when Spain established control over the coastal areas, later formalizing the colony as Spanish Sahara. Despite sustained resistance from local tribes, colonial presence endured until the wave of decolonization in the mid-20th century.

In the 1970s, the push for independence intensified in a global context of decolonization and growing demands for self-determination. The United Nations had already recognized the right of the Sahrawi people to decide their future through a referendum. However, when Spain finally withdrew in 1975, that referendum never took place. Instead, the Madrid Agreement transferred control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. That same year, Morocco organized the Green March — the mass entry of civilians into the territory — beginning an occupation that continues to this day. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew, and Morocco took control of most of Western Sahara.

Today, the territory remains divided by a sand wall of more than 2,700 kilometres — one of the longest in the world — while the Sahrawi people continue to wait for a self-determination referendum that has remained unfulfilled for decades.

The Sahrawi people are the indigenous people of Western Sahara. Of mixed origin—Hassani Arab, Sanhaja Berber, and various sub-Saharan Indigenous populations—their culture is a unique synthesis of Berber African influences, Sahelian Indigenous traditions, and an Arab legacy, shaped over centuries in the desert.

Since the Green March in 1975, a large part of the Sahrawi population has lived in refugee camps in the Algerian desert near Tindouf, waiting for a self-determination referendum that never arrives. The rest live under Moroccan control, separated from their families and their land by the world’s longest sand wall.

Despite decades of exile and resistance, Sahrawi culture remains alive: in its music, poetry, craftsmanship, and hospitality. During the Sahara Weeks at Códigos del Arte, we invite you to discover the Sahrawi people and their history — to listen, to learn, and to stand with a people who have never stopped fighting for their right to exist.

At Códigos del Arte, we don’t just shine a light on injustice—we work to create a fairer, more just world. For Semanas del Sahara, we’ve teamed up with We Through The Wall (WTTW), an international NGO defending human rights against physical, economic, social, and symbolic barriers. WTTW actively supports the Sahrawi people and runs programmes in refugee camps in Algeria.

We also support other organisations doing vital work on Western Sahara, including Western Sahara Resource Watch, which monitors companies and governments advancing Moroccan interests, and Equipe Media, a sustainable media collective operating in the region.

You can support the Sahrawi people in many ways: learn about the issue, raise awareness in your community, participate in events or activities, and donate to NGOs advocating for their rights and dignity.