The Polisario Front (, transliterates to ', translates to "Popular Front for the Liberation of el Hamra and Río de Oro") is a military and political organisation, which is active in Western Sahara. Internationally, it is often known as Polisario"'. The movement succeeded the older movement called "Movimiento para la Liberación del Sahara", which was active in the 1950s and 1960s. The movement was founded in the early 1970s. At first it was active fighting for the independece of the Spanish Sahara, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. After the Spanish left, Mauretania and Morocco occupied Western Sahara, and the Polisario continued fighting.