Sanchez Destroys the Tunnel into which Algerian-Spanish Relations Entered

The visit that led the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, to the Kingdom of Morocco did not pass without having repercussions for his government, and for his country’s relations with Algeria.

Sanchez chose the timing of the visit in a fit of anger over what was said to be Algeria’s “refusal” to receive his Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, which made him take positions and decisions that will undoubtedly extend the life of the crisis and will even become more complicated, according to many observers.

At the political level inside Spain, the opposition Popular Party requested that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attend the plenary session of the Spanish House of Representatives to provide clarifications regarding the visit that led him to the Kingdom of Morocco last Wednesday. This decision was signed by the spokesman for the People’s Party, Miguel Tellado, and the 130 MPs constituting the party’s parliamentary group.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Debate, the PP MPs are asking Sanchez to submit a report on “how the visit was organized” and “the reasons for not reporting it,” up to 24 hours before the trip. The opposition People’s Party wants Sanchez to provide clarifications regarding the files that were discussed during the visit, which created a political and media controversy, forcing the Moncloa Government Palace to disavow statements made by Sanchez.

On the external level, it can be said that the Spanish Prime Minister drove the last wedge in his country’s already damaged relations with Algeria, nearly two years ago, and it seems that the man was a victim of making decisions while in a fit of anger over the failure of his Foreign Minister’s visit to Algeria. Despite his awareness of the sensitivity of his country’s position on the Western Sahara issue, he went too far in provoking Algeria, and this provocation will have serious repercussions on bilateral relations, which this time may reach the very sensitive energy file, within the framework of what the contracts concluded between the two countries allow.

The Spanish official not only supported his previous position on the Western Sahara issue but also responded to a well-thought-out lure by the Moroccan regime, which was looking by all means to aggravate relations between Algeria and Madrid, to then get what it wanted, which was a trap that Sanchez did not notice because he was driven by a charge of anger over the failure of his Foreign Minister Albaris’ visit to Algeria.

Commenting on the outcomes of Sanchez’s visit to Rabat, one of the most prominent specialists in Spanish-Moroccan relations, Ignacio Cembrero, who works for the Spanish newspaper El Confidential, said: “Entering the Moroccan royal palace had a price. President Pedro Sanchez paid the price for that, first with a statement to his host, King Mohammed VI, then in front of the media.”

Cembrero, who worked for many years as a correspondent from Rabat for the well-known Spanish newspaper El Pais, added: “He twice repeated his support for the solution that the king calls for to resolve the Western Sahara conflict, and he even went further than he did in March 2022, when he (the Moroccan king) presented it to him for the first time, he supported him in a letter partially revealed by the Moroccan royal palace”.

According to what was reported by the Spanish journalist, who accused the Moroccan regime of spying on his phone using the Zionist “Pegasus” spyware, Sanchez “reiterated to the Morrocan King Spain’s position that it considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative to be the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving this conflict,” in front of the media, Sanchez affirmed Spain’s commitment “to the solution proposed by the Moroccan government, on a realistic basis. He did not mention the United Nations even once.”

What is more dangerous, Cembrero added, is that Sanchez “welcomed and highlighted Spain’s interest in the strategic initiatives launched by the king, especially the initiative of the African countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and the report revealed an initiative to facilitate the access of the Sahel countries to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the African-Atlantic gas pipeline between Nigeria and Morocco.”