Spain suffers from the crisis between Morocco and Algeria

Less than a week after Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Rabat, during which the French president reaffirmed his country’s support for the Moroccan Sahara autonomy plan, Algeria ended more than two years of commercial blockade with Spain, with the exception of gas. Algiers had suspended its trade with Madrid, in reaction to Pedro Sanchez’s change of position on the Sahara in favor of Morocco.

At the same time, the country of Abdelmadjid Tebboune suspended its commercial relations with France. “We inform you that from November 5, 2024, import levies from and/or from France will no longer be taken care of by local banks, export operations to France will also be affected », revealed Wednesday Xavier Driencourt, former French ambassador to Algeria, in a message on X. The next day, the Algerian authorities denied the information, relays The reason.

Read: Two years later, Algeria reopens its doors to trade with Spain

Although relations between Algeria and Spain seem to be normalizing on a commercial level, they remain tense on a diplomatic level. On February 11, the Algerian authorities decided to postpone indefinitely the visit to Algiers of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, just 12 hours before the start of the visit. Also, cooperation on migration and in the fight against terrorism between the two countries is in decline. Algeria’s suspension of the treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation with Spain has also not yet been lifted.

Spain finds itself, despite itself, in the middle of the crisis between Rabat and Algiers, with the Sahara in the background. Morocco expects clear support from Spain on this issue before normalizing its relations with it. Since Pedro Sanchez expressed Spain’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara, in a letter addressed to Mohammed VI on March 14, 2022, the Spanish president has been dragging himself to officially recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over this territory.