Here is a closer view of the "alleged" sunspots, per my brother's request. Below is video of sunspots 1520, 1519, and 1521 from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, the video is captured in the 131 Angstrom wavelength which is good for viewing solar flares, and appears teal. Sunspot 1520 was largest on July 11-12, while we were seeing it from Moulay Yacoub and also when it emitted a Class X1.4 flare .  The "X" classification of solar flares is the most prominent and powerful enough to send radiation to Earth, causing Aurora Borealis. 
 
We met up with a Peace Corps volunteer and visited him in the town where he did his initial training and Arabic language study, Moulay Yacoub. He showed us around town and told us a lot about his time in Morocco so far. It was nice to get out of the big city and spend some time hiking.