Assa Zag, la histórica puerta del Sáhara
The largest province of Guelmín is striving to promote its tourist attractions during its first regional tourism forum. The economic sector is still weak, lacking foreign investment and a clear plan to which all social actors adhere.
However, the raw value of the region exists. It is an unspoilt, authentic and wild corner where the most daring travellers will find what they are looking for. A destination far removed from the all-inclusive sun and sand, it offers travellers the opportunity to experience the Sahara, rural Morocco, its inhabitants and their customs at first hand.
However, in this sector, Assa already has to compete with its neighbours, who have been offering similar experiences for some years now, and therefore have a certain advantage in terms of experience and infrastructure. The local authorities and community members are not giving it up, and at every ATALAYAR meeting with the locals during the week of Mússem, the most important festival of the year, the desire and will of the Moroccans of Assa to try to promote the attractiveness of their particular region to the rest of the world is palpable.
One of the men who is pushing this bandwagon is Ali Qisse, president of the Assa Zag Regional Tourism Council, the local tourism promotion association that works with the authorities and is responsible for advancing projects in coordination with local communities. In Assa, the family hierarchies of the Ait Oussa tribe remain a major backbone of society, and in this respect Qisse's work shines, as he tries to involve the heads of families in his projects, which also aim to have a positive impact on the locals.
The body chaired by Qisse is working on the points that it believes the region can exploit. The forum participants are also aware of them. It is no secret that the region cannot offer mass tourism, urban tourism or the like. All the attractions of Assa Zag are based on an adventurous experience in the Sahara.
Mússem, although very temporary, is perhaps the region's greatest resource. Not only for the foreigners who come to this remote spot. It is also for Moroccans from the villages surrounding Assa. The Mússem are organised all over Morocco and must number around a hundred. But among them all, the one in Assa is special. It is generated around the Zawiya of Assa, a religious school more than 700 years old, which continues to teach Islam and Sufism. Because of this Zawiya, the Mússem of Assa fair is of particular importance. For 5 days, members of different communities gather in Assa to sell handicrafts and local products, as well as to admire camel racing and Moroccan tbourida. The Mússem organisers also promote a series of concerts of traditional Hassani music. One of them, with a repertoire of religious songs, takes place on the main façade of the Zawiya of Assa, in the heart of the old city.
This old city, or Casbah, is another major attraction presented during the last provincial tourism forum held in Assa. It is a walled city, built on top of the hills and overlooking the oued palm grove. The kasbah dates from around 1300, as does the Zawiya. A restoration project launched by the Agence de Developpement du Sud in collaboration with several architects and archaeologists from Agadir has breathed new life into the old city through partial reconstruction and restoration. Many buildings have been restored to their former glory. They offer a special and picturesque visit to the traveller, who can immerse himself in the most historic Assa. Several houses in the Casbah have been restored to become restaurants and even guesthouses, giving visitors the opportunity to stay in one of them for a traditional Sahrawi experience. In the words of Mohammed Amal Karrioun, president of Majestic-Tours, a leading Moroccan travel agency, this Casbah and this more traditional and authentic version of Assa is the best card the city can play to attract the traveller and position itself with a different value than the neighbouring provinces of Tan-Tan or Tata.
Yet another project that members of the Assa Zag tourism promotion community would like to see flourish is that of mobile bivouacs. Particularly attractive for adventure tourism, mobile bivouacs are a good option for travellers who do not wish to sleep in a city or hotel. In a talk among several notables, which ATALAYAR attended, different members of the local community expressed how this should be prioritised in the tourism development plan. "Accommodation comes first", said several times the leader of the commune of Zag, and also an important member of the Ait Oussa tribe. The idea of bivouacs is more affordable than building a hotel and ensures lower and variable costs depending on demand. They also looked at the options of making them luxury bivouacs. The mobility of the bivouacs would have as its main attraction the possibility of moving from oasis to oasis, seeking out the different stages of the traveller and leading him or her to the best landscapes hidden throughout the 27,000 km of the Assa Zag province.
Archaeology is finally one of the values that can make Assa stand out. For Spaniard Gonzalo Sánchez Álvarez-Castellanos, author of the first travel guide to southern Morocco, Assa Zag contains perhaps the best archaeological finds in all of southern Morocco. In the enclave of Ouad Zag, where there is still a little water left, stands a rock formation with several panels containing a photograph of what the Sahara was like more than 10,000 years ago. Images of weapons, rhinoceroses, giraffes, oxen and various types of animals and scenes are carved into the stones, some at astonishing sizes. Heritage sites like this exist in at least 8 places in the province, catalogued and accessible with a guide. It is impossible not to be saddened by the idea of a desert that was once a meadow, a forest and a garden.
