Logbook of the Rallye du Maroc – United Nations and the longest carpet in the world

To use the slogan of a low-cost store brand in Laâyoune (Morocco), “you can find everything there if you’re smart.” The city located 500 km south of Agadir, which hosts two stages of the Rally of Morocco 2022, houses various things worthy of curiosity. Judge for yourself!

A first eyebrow is raised when, when going to the bivouac canteen (undoubtedly one of the favorite moments of the day), the eye is drawn into the air, by the sound of a plane taking off. On its white fuselage, two unique letters painted in black can be read: ONE. The United Nations here? We are not at war as far as I know, unless the lack of network in this part of the Maghreb made me miss a few episodes in the series dedicated to Vladimir Putin.

Information received, the international organization established a base in Laâyoune in 1991, called the United Nations Mission for the organization of a referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Today, it is one of the oldest detachments still active, with 456 people deployed as of May 2022, including 245 military personnel, who are more commonly called “blue helmets”.

Minurso is supposed to organize a referendum for the future of the region and ensure control of population movements. The fundamental question would be to decide whether the inhabitants of Western Sahara wanted independence or preferred to integrate into Morocco. Small problem: the referendum is constantly postponed due to a lack of consultation between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

The people of Western Sahara should choose between independence and integration into Morocco. Yes, maybe we should have started there. Indeed, Laâyoune has been controlled and administered by Morocco since 1976. This city with 217 inhabitants is located in Western Sahara, a territory claimed by Morocco, which controls 732%, but also by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) founded by the Polisario Front, which controls the remaining 80%. The UN recognizes neither the takeover of Morocco nor the proclamation of the SADR. This is how to explain, very briefly, this blockage which has lasted for decades.

Let's try to keep it simple. In fact, when you walk around Laâyoune, nothing indicates such a geopolitical situation, except the presence of a few peacekeepers in the street. The locals are as warm and welcoming as in any other Moroccan town, and mint tea is served in the same way, i.e. the teapot is poured high to aerate the beverage.

You also have to be an expert on pump prices to understand that Morocco applies subsidies in the south of the country, in order to create economic growth that this region was sorely lacking at the end of the last century. Thus, a liter of fuel was, at the time of writing, 30 dirhams cheaper (0,3 euro cents) than in the north of Morocco! In a country where the average salary is 385,53 dollars (385,93 euros), this is very significant.

Since we're talking about economics, let's take a look at the most astonishing structure that the competitors of the Rallye du Maroc went through on the third stage. It is a conveyor belt, sorry, a conveyor belt, almost 100 km long connecting the Boukraa mine to the port of Laâyoune-plage. It's the longest treadmill in the world, and it's even visible from space according to NASA ! However, we did not ask astronaut Thomas Pesquet if this was true.

© Flickr / JbDodane

The OCP group, which sponsors the Morocco Rally, operates this belt, which transports phosphate. The road that we took to watch the vehicles pass under the structure was guarded by smiling soldiers. " Welcome ", they said then, as they left for the press room, asked: “Are there still a lot of cars left, or are they finished?” » There was still a little left!

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