Laayoune's "lower town", built by the Spanish in the 1940s and 1950s, is where the older atmospheric architecture sits — the white-domed houses, the disused Spanish cathedral, the colonnaded Souk Djmaa. The "upper town" north of the river is dominated by Hassan II-era monuments built to anchor Morocco's claim to Western Sahara, including the vast Place du Mechouar. South of the city, the long dunes of the Saguia el-Hamra dry river valley make for a striking walk at sunset.