00:00To reach the White Dune, no choice but to drive on a bumpy track in the Sahara Desert.
00:06It's a kite surfing spot with nearly always wind.
00:09The dune stands in the middle of nowhere.
00:13These French tourists are fans of extreme sports.
00:18I'm going to ride, dude.
00:20Heading to the unknown.
00:22We have to walk a little because the water is too shallow here.
00:25Kite surfing is getting more and more popular with schools being set up around the world, notably in Dahla.
00:35The White Dune is an ideal spot.
00:38When the tide rises, it surrounds it with water creating a huge flat area to kite surf because the White Dune cuts the waves.
00:47Not all tourists know that Western Sahara is a disputed territory and non-autonomous according to the United Nations.
00:55Since the former colonial power Spain left 50 years ago, Morocco has been battling pro-independence fighters of the Polisario Front backed by Algeria.
01:06Tourism is at the heart of the kingdom's strategy to develop the area.
01:10When I first arrived, I loved it.
01:15There weren't any houses here.
01:17This road was different.
01:19All the roads were different.
01:20I've been living here for eight years.
01:22And entire new neighborhoods have appeared.
01:27An hour away from Dahla lies the small village of El Hargoub.
01:32From there, a short drive on a desert track and we reach Le Camping des Pêcheurs.
01:39The only person there comes to greet us.
01:42Do you not feel too isolated here?
01:44Oh no, quite the opposite.
01:47I feel free like a bird.
01:49Or free like a butterfly.
01:50Ali runs a small gassed house with one activity on offer, fishing.
01:59The coast of Western Sahara is famous for its fish resources.
02:03It takes him barely five minutes to catch something.
02:13Ali is slightly nostalgic of the 1980s, when Dahla was even quieter.
02:18Can you imagine we only had three flights a week coming here?
02:24Now we have five or six a day.
02:27It's a big evolution for Dahla.
02:31Between 2016 and 2021, Morocco spent over 7 billion euros on new infrastructure.
02:38The kingdom is using tourism to attract investment and build more in Western Sahara.
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