In return, Spain got a preferential treatment regarding the exploitation of their fishing waters in front of the Moroccan coast. The next day, the Arabian Democratic Republic Sahara was proclaimed. This was not done in the country itself though, but in Algeria. A lot of Sahrawi live there since they share a lot of common history together. Morocco and Mauritania ignored the claim of independence and it resulted in what to this day still is not settled. Mauritania, however, stepped out early. They were facing big social and economic problems, and as they were on the edge of financial collapse and civil war was lurking around the corner, they could simply not permit themselves going to war and gave up every claim to the territory (Efferink, 2015). The conflict now only was between the Moroccan Kingdom and the Sahrawi people, united in the Polisario. As a response to Mauritania stepping out, Morocco takes over their part.
To show what great success he has, King Hassan II of Morocco commands to have a defensive wall made from dirt built, cutting the Western Sahara from north to south: the Moroccan Wall (Fynn, 2011). The territory west of it, five-sixth of the country, was under Moroccan jurisdiction. The rest was in control of the Polisario, though they are kept out of the rest of the country now. Morocco succeeded in gaining ascendancy in the battle. Polisario was not only losing physical territory, it also lost international support. The politically left orientation of the seventies was less popular in the eighties and nineties, with communist movements losing power. Meanwhile, Morocco took its chance to integrate the Western Sahara in its kingdom; it got an extensive army, big economical investments and Moroccans who moved to the area got certain special premiums. In 1991, the war between Morocco and Polisario ended after both parties agreed upon a ceasefire (UN, 2015b). But the conflict didn't end there, since they still not decided over the territory.
