The End of the Referendum Myth: The 1974 Census Undermines Polisario's Legitimacy
As time passes, one of the key pillars on which the Polisario Front and Algeria have built their narrative in the Western Sahara conflict is crumbling: the 1974 Spanish census. Today, more than fifty years later, this dataset is no longer valid as a basis for any referendum on self-determination. Most of those registered are deceased, and the Polisario can no longer prove that its current members have any genuine link to the territory.