A diplomatic rift is gradually setting in between Spain and Algeria. The latter has reacted to the statements made by José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, in response to the declaration of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Spain’s change of position on the Sahara.
Algeria has still not digested Spain’s decision to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara, even though it assures that for the moment, it will continue to supply it with gas.
Algeria has still not digested Spain’s new position on the Sahara. Amar Belani, special envoy in charge of the Western Sahara issue and the Maghreb countries, attacked Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Spanish government, who called for the return of the Algerian ambassador to Madrid.
Many Algerian Internet users strongly claim that the caftan and the djellaba are Algerian, thus creating a vain controversy. An Algerian journalist tries to put an end to it.
Not content with raising the price of gas supplied to Spain, Algeria claims "technical problems" related to the extension of the Medgaz pipeline to reduce the amount of gas it delivers to the country.
Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition, Leïla Benali, announced on Friday the reopening, in the opposite direction, of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) to transport gas from Spain.
A few days after the announcement of Spain’s decision to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara, Algeria first closed its livestock market to Spain, and gradually to all agricultural and commercial products from that country.
French citizens of Moroccan, Algerian and other origins residing in France fear the election of Rassemblement national (RN) candidate Marine Le Pen, who is facing Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2022 presidential election.
The Algerian diplomat Amar Belani, in charge of monitoring the conflict in the Sahara at the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted on Friday to the visit of Pedro Sanchez to Rabat, describing the change in Spain’s position on the Sahara as a "crime".
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, would have indicated during his visit on Thursday to Rabat, that he does not plan to visit Algeria soon. The two countries have been at odds since Spain officially expressed its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara.
A senior Algerian official reacted to the visit of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, to Morocco following the change in Spain’s position on the Sahara issue.
In Morocco, merchants have found a trick to bypass the boycott of Algerian dates which, according to some Internet users, would be "adulterated and toxic" because they come "from the oases where the French army had carried out nuclear tests".