<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Algerian authorities have unblocked trade with Spain, which had been frozen since June 2022, with the exception of hydrocarbons, in retaliation for the decision of Pedro Sánchez's government to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.</strong></h4> In March 2022, Pedro Sánchez sent a letter to King Mohammed VI stating that “Spain considers the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for the Sahara presented in 2007 as the most serious, credible and realistic basis for the resolution of this dispute.” That “historic turn”, which radically modified Spain’s position with respect to its former colony and which was rejected by the rest of the parliamentary arc, allowed Spain to overcome a deep diplomatic crisis with Morocco, but it did so at the cost of seriously deteriorating relations with Algeria, the main supplier of gas to Spain, at a particularly delicate moment due to the energy crisis resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine. A few days later, the President of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebboune, recalled the former ambassador to Spain, Said Moussi, for consultations, and in June, the Algerian government suspended the Treaty of Friendship with Spain after two decades in force, after which the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF) of Algeria ordered the financial institutions of that country to freeze direct debits in all foreign trade operations of products originating and destined for Spain, a measure that was equivalent to freezing bilateral trade, taking into account the country's regulations. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares immediately went to the European Commission and got the European Union to warn Algeria that the suspension of trade relations with an EU member could violate the Association Agreement between Brussels and Algiers, but Brussels' support for Spain only made things worse with the Algerian government, which reproached Spain for having provoked the "regrettable interference" of the EU in a strictly "bilateral" matter. According to a note from the Bank of Algeria on Wednesday addressed to intermediary banks, "direct debit operations for foreign trade operations with destination and origin in Spain must be processed in accordance with the current exchange regulations on currency exchange." This decision, reported by the Algerian press, was later confirmed by the Algerian-Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIAE), which in a press release addressed to the members of the CCIAE and to businessmen reported that “economic and commercial exchanges between Algeria and Spain are unblocked as of today”, which “represents an important opportunity to strengthen commercial relations between the two countries”. As reported on Wednesday by journalist Ignacio Cembrero of ‘El Confidencial’, immediately after lifting the sanctions, Algeria adopted new measures of the same type against France for exactly the same reasons: on July 30, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, not only supported the Moroccan autonomy plan, considering, along the same lines as Spain, that it is “the only basis for achieving a fair, lasting and negotiated political solution, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”, but he even went further and officially announced to Mohamed VI his support for “Moroccan sovereignty” over Western Sahara. The thaw in bilateral relations with Algeria began in the fall of 2023, after some words by Sánchez before the UN General Assembly in which he advocated seeking a solution to the Sahara conflict “within the framework of the United Nations Charter and the resolutions of the Security Council”, without mentioning the Moroccan autonomy proposal. Apparently, Algeria also welcomed Sánchez's position in favour of the Palestinian State. In these circumstances, Spain granted its approval in November to the new Algerian ambassador, Abdelfetá Daghmun. The post had been vacant since 19 March 2022, when the Algerian government recalled its ambassador in Madrid for consultations in the midst of tensions with Spain. In January, Algeria took the first step towards thawing trade relations with Spain, after the ABEF issued instructions to authorise the import of a series of poultry products into the country.
