Sánchez travels to Algeria this Monday to end the diplomatic crisis and increase gas supplies

Eduardo González The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will make his second official trip to Algeria on Monday with the threefold objective of ending the 2022 bilateral diplomatic crisis, increasing Algerian gas supplies to Spain, and addressing trade and investment relations. Pedro Sánchez, who will arrive in Algeria from New York, where he will attend the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, will be accompanied by the Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. Sánchez's day in Algiers will begin with a meeting with the Prime Minister, Sifi Ghrieb. Next, he will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martyrs' Monument and meet with Spanish business leaders at the Residence of the Spanish Ambassador to Algeria. Afterward, he will be received at the Presidential Palace by the President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with whom he will issue a joint statement. The visit will conclude with an official luncheon hosted by Tebboune. This is Sánchez's second trip to Algeria. The first took place in November 2020. According to sources at Moncloa Palace, Pedro Sánchez's trip has three very clear objectives. First, this trip is intended to demonstrate the overcoming of the serious diplomatic crisis that arose in April 2022, following the Spanish government's unexpected decision to support the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for Western Sahara. That conflict with Algeria resulted, on the part of Abdelmadjid Tebboune's government, in the recall of the previous ambassador to Spain for consultations in March 2022 and the suspension of the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation, as well as trade relations. The thaw in bilateral relations came in 2023, following remarks by Sánchez before the UN General Assembly in which he advocated for finding a solution to the Western Sahara conflict "within the framework of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions," without mentioning the Moroccan proposal for autonomy, and thanks to Spain's stance in favor of the Palestinian state. Under these circumstances, Spain granted its agrément to the new Algerian ambassador, Abdelfeta Daghmoun, in November of that year. According to the aforementioned sources, very positive signs have recently emerged from the Algerian government, such as President Tebboune's decision to reactivate the Treaty of Friendship, announced in March during Albares' visit to Algiers, or Spain's participation in the Algeria International Fair last June, where Spain was the guest of honor and which was attended by the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, leading a group of companies. Gas The second objective of the trip is energy-related. With markets experiencing significant tension and following the elimination of Russian gas due to European Union sanctions, the government hopes to expand the supply of Algerian gas, taking advantage of the Algerian authorities' own interest in increasing their sales of this product to Spain and attracting new investment in the sector. Algeria is the world's tenth largest gas producer and also ranks tenth in terms of known reserves. Furthermore, it accounts for six percent of global gas exports and is the main gas supplier to Spain, while Spain is its second largest gas customer after Italy, at a considerable distance. Between 30 and 35 percent of the gas that Spain imports comes from Algeria. Additionally, gas still represents approximately 21 to 23 percent of the primary energy consumed in Spain. In this context, the Government's objective is to increase the flow of gas from Algeria by ten percent, and to reinforce this objective, Pedro Sánchez will travel to the North African country accompanied by representatives of the four main Spanish companies in this sector: Repsol, Naturgy, Moeve, and Enagás. According to the aforementioned sources, the Government is aware that Algeria is a tough negotiator, but, at the same time, it has always honored its contracts with Spain, and there has never been a threat of default. The third objective of the trip is to strengthen trade and investment ties between Spain and Algeria beyond the energy sector. For this reason, Pedro Sánchez will meet with a group of companies, in addition to energy companies, that work in other sectors, such as infrastructure, water, food, and engineering. In this regard, the aforementioned sources emphasized that Algeria is in the midst of a process of diversifying its economy and is, therefore, particularly interested in attracting investment to exploit new resources, a task in which Spanish companies can contribute. Separately, and along the same lines, the Algerian government is also interested in developing renewable energy sources, especially solar, for which it has abundant natural resources. Spain can also contribute to this objective thanks to its experience in renewable energy and its commitment to green hydrogen. In this context, the Spanish government hopes that Sánchez's visit will lead to economic and business cooperation agreements to develop green hydrogen and to strengthen the presence of Spanish companies in other sectors.

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