Has the Economic Thaw Between Algeria and Madrid Begun?
Additional signs of the beginning of an economic thaw between Algeria and Madrid have emerged, two years since the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborhood, due to Pedro Sanchez government’s unilateral decision to shift in position regarding the Western Sahara issue.
One of the manifestations of the economic thaw between the two countries is related to the increase in the number of Air Algrie’s flights to both Madrid and Barcelona, the second-largest city in Spain.
As is known, the Spanish destination remained excluded from increasing the number of flights following the resumption of activity after the COVID-19 pandemic, as the national airline announced, on Wednesday evening, an increase in the number of flights to Spain, and the resumption of flights to Madrid at a rate of two flights per week, and to Barcelona by passing from four up to seven flights per week.
The increase in the number of Algerian flights to this European country coincided with the first official appearance of the Spanish ambassador to Algeria.
Previously, the Algerian Economic Renewal Council (CREA), which is considered the largest employers’ organization in Algeria, announced that it would receive the Spanish ambassador to Algeria, Fernando Moran Calvo-Sotelo, by the head of the organization, Kamal Moula, in the presence of members of the executive office.
The AERC’s statement at the time said that during the discussions that focused on the participation of Spanish companies operating in Algeria, the ambassador welcomed the strong messages sent by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, towards economic operators during the conclusion of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The Council’s statement concluded by emphasizing that it is open to supporting Spanish companies in Algeria in developing their economic activities.
In this context, Djameleddine Bouabdallah, president of the Algerian-Spanish Circle of Commerce and Industry, said in a phone interview with Echorouk that the recent period has actually witnessed the emergence of positive signs of the beginning of an economic thaw between the two countries, but on the commercial level everything is still the same.
Bouabdallah explained that one of the positive signs that encourage the return of economic and commercial relations to normal between the two parties is the recent approval by the Algerian authorities of a deal for Repsol in the gas fields in the Reggane region in Adrar (southern Algeria), about the purchase of the Italian Edison’s share in the “North Reggane” gas field by the Spanish Repsol at 6.75%, and “Wintershall Dea” at 4.50%, and the decree of its entry into force was published in the Official Gazette.
He added that Air Algérie’s increase in the number of flights to Madrid, Barcelona, and perhaps Alicante in the future was also understood in the economic, industry, and trade circles in Spain as a positive, encouraging sign that may precede the return of economic and trade relations to normal, through the increase in flights and the resulting movement in both directions.
The speaker referred to the reception of the Spanish ambassador to Algeria, Fernando Moran Calvo-Sotelo, by the Algerian Economic Renewal Council, a step that was also considered in Spain as a positive development, he asserted that despite these signals that were understood as positive and encouraging the return of economic relations to normal, but on the commercial level things remain as they were, with Algerian oil and gas sales continuing to flow to Spain, and an almost total stagnation in the opposite direction.
The president of the Algerian-Spanish Circle of Industry and Commerce explained that there is currently talk in economic and industrial circles in Spain about the possibility of a return to commercial activity during the new year 2024, given the previous positive signs on more than one level.
On Thursday, November 16, 2023, the official Algerian Press Service quoted a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying; “the Spanish government approved the appointment of the diplomat, Abdelfattah Daghmoum, as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to the Kingdom of Spain,” which means the return of Algeria’s representation in Spain.
The return of the Algerian ambassador to Madrid marked the beginning of the return of bilateral relations to their normal course after they entered a stormy phase in the spring of last year, which led, in June 2022, to the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborhood signed between Algeria and Madrid in 2002, by the Algerian side.