La Güera Airport

The airport was abandoned along with the town of La Güera due to the outbreak of the Western Sahara War. Following Spain's withdrawal from its colony of Spanish Sahara in 1975, the region became a conflict zone between Morocco, Mauritania, and the Polisario Front. The fighting and instability led to the complete depopulation of the town, rendering the airport obsolete and causing the cessation of all civil and military operations.

The airport is completely derelict and non-functional. Satellite imagery of the coordinates reveals the faint outline of a single runway that is heavily deteriorated, degraded by the harsh desert environment, and partially buried by encroaching sand dunes. The entire town of La Güera is a ghost town, with its buildings in ruins. The site is located within a sensitive, de facto buffer zone on the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula. While claimed by Morocco, the area is effectively controlled and patrolled by the Mauritanian military to prevent its use by other forces, given its strategic proximity to Mauritania's main port of Nouadhibou.

Built during the Spanish colonial era, La Güera Airport served as a vital transportation link for the isolated coastal settlement of La Güera. Its primary function was to connect this remote outpost with other administrative centers in Spanish Sahara, such as Villa Cisneros (now Dakhla) and El Aaiún, as well as with the Canary Islands. The airport handled light passenger and cargo aircraft, providing crucial logistical, administrative, and military support for the Spanish presence. It was also important for the local fishing industry, which was the town's main economic activity.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening La Güera Airport. A reopening is considered virtually impossible for the foreseeable future due to a combination of insurmountable obstacles:
1. **Political Conflict:** The unresolved political status of Western Sahara makes any investment or development unfeasible.
2. **Depopulation:** The town of La Güera is uninhabited, meaning there is no local demand for air services.
3. **Military Zone:** The site's location in a sensitive military buffer zone precludes any civilian development.
4. **Economic Viability:** The modern and fully operational Nouadhibou International Airport (NDB) in Mauritania is located just a few kilometers away across the bay, making a new airport in the abandoned town of La Güera economically redundant.