The Sahrawi pharmaceutical lab battling against sand and shortages: ‘We are a rose in the desert’
27 September 2026 at 05:00
The Mohamed Embarek Fakal·la Pharmaceutical Production Laboratory is sometimes called “a desert rose,” because no one expected something like this to grow here. Mulai Mesaud Jarrachi, the lab’s logistics manager and deputy director, explains it to EL PAÍS. And, when he says “here,” he gestures broadly toward the Algerian hamada: a stony, hostile desert with scorching temperatures, where the wind constantly whips up sand that seeps under doors (and even gets between your teeth).

© Monica Torres

© Monica Torres

© Monica Torres