Yes, it is a real sand desert, albeit small. It's called Błędowska Desert, and came to be because of wanton deforestation for the needs of lead and tin industry in 13-14th century medieval Poland, near the city of Olkusz.
During hot summers, even optical illusions (mirages) appear on Błędowska, just like on Sahara.
During WW2, Germans used this desert as a proving ground for their Afrika Korps units.
As you can see, the desert is small, surrounded by forests. It started to overgrow with trees and bushes in the industrial age, because of the nitrates in the air and the rise in water level. So the government decided to preserve the original desert biom and cut out trees and bushes, for the sake of tourists.
I'd say it's still overgrown. Looks like a semi-desert rather than a proper sand desert.
On the horizon, the smokestacks and structures of the Coking Plant "Friendship" in Dąbrowa Górnicza.
Almost like a cactus! But it's just a pine tree, overgrowing the sand.
With all this overgrowing, it starts to look like a savannah. In the distance, an observation or command tower built by military.
A desert nymph!
I hope you enjoyed this interesting freak of nature.
Shot with Konica Minolta Dimage A2 and Sony DSC-W290.