Morocco commemorates 49th anniversary of the Green March

November 6^th marks the annual commemoration of the Green March, a mass demonstration organized by the late Moroccan monarch that brought together hundreds of thousands in an effort to reassert Morocco’s rights over the Western Sahara region, which had been under Spanish occupation since the late 19th century. According to local media reports, in 1975, King Hassan II sensed that the Spanish presence in Western Sahara was nearing its end. To bolster Morocco’s position in negotiations with Spain, the monarch conceived the idea of the Green March. It is still celebrated today as an annual holiday in Morocco.