Foreign Ministry confirms release of Spanish kidnapped in Algeria

Eduardo González The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday the release of the Spanish citizen kidnapped in mid-January in southern Algeria. “We confirm that the Spaniard held against his will in North Africa has been released,” the Ministry reported in a press release. “The Spanish diplomatic and intelligence services have worked actively in coordination with those in the area to quickly and positively resolve the case,” it added. According to the Algerian Ministry of Defense, the security services of the National Popular Army received on Tuesday the “Spanish citizen Joaquín Navarro Canada, who is in good health” and who was “kidnapped, while he was on a tourist visit, on January 14, 2025 in the border area between Algeria and Mali (…=) by an armed group made up of five individuals.” Navarro, it added, “will be handed over to the Spanish authorities at a later date.” The Spanish citizen was released and handed over to the Algerian authorities by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), one of the main Tuareg separatist groups in northern Mali. This past Monday, the spokesman for the FLA, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, announced that the Spaniard had been released thanks to the efforts of his organization. Navarro, according to these sources, had been captured in southern Algeria and taken to northern Mali by an armed group that wanted to collect a large sum of money offered by the Islamic State in the Sahel in exchange for the delivery of hostages. On January 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the kidnapping of the Spaniard and reported that the Government was working “actively to clarify all aspects and achieve a resolution.” Sources close to the information told the Efe agency that the Spanish citizen had been kidnapped the previous day by a group linked to jihadism in southern Algeria. Initially, reports had emerged that a group of tourists, including a Spanish citizen, had been kidnapped by the Islamic State of the Sahel near the town of Tamanrasset. The rest of the group had been released, but the kidnappers had reportedly held the woman and taken her to Mali. However, it was later confirmed that the kidnapped Spaniard was a man. A few days earlier, the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs reported the kidnapping of a citizen of its country, Eva Gretzmatcher, in the region of Agadez (Niger), close to the Algerian border.

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