Spain Considers Itself Liable To Maritime Attacks From Algeria And Portugal!

The second figure in the command of the Spanish naval forces, Admiral Manuel Garat, said in strange remarks that his country considers itself subject to attack from Algeria at the same level with its neighbor Portugal, amid questions in the Spanish press about “this great increase of the Algerian submarine weaponry,” which exceeded its Spanish counterpart as the latter began to lose control of the waters of the southern Iberian Peninsula for the Algerian Navy.
The official Spanish position was expressed by Spanish naval Forces (ALFLOT) Admiral Manuel Garat during a ceremony of the Spanish Navy held on Monday in the northwestern city of Vigo, overlooking the Atlantic, in response to a question by attendees about the recent re-armament of the Algerian Navy which received new modern Russian submarines some weeks ago.
In this auditorium event, a round of questions was allowed in which the attendees asked ALFLOT Admiral Garat all kinds of questions about the current affairs of the Navy and its missions.
According to Spain’s “EL Confidencial Digital” (ECD) news website, among the questions were several that revolved around the role of the Spanish Navy in the Strait of Gibraltar. And one was even more incisive, asking whether Spain was losing control of the southern waters of the Iberian Peninsula to the rise of some neighboring marinas, especially in relation to Algerian submarine rearmament.
In his response, Admiral Garat came to assure that Spain has the same “probabilities” of being attacked by Algeria as of being attacked by Portugal, and made a defense of the capabilities of the submarine weapon that Spain has at this time.
Algeria “rules” in the Strait of Gibraltar
The issue came to light just a week after ECD echoed a growing opinion in the Spanish Navy: The current state of the submarine weapon, with only two old active submarines, places it in inferiority to Algeria’s growing capacity.
“Algeria, for example, today has a higher submarine potential than Spain. It’s something that has never happened before,” said the voices consulted, who recalled that “whoever controls the seas is the one who dominates them beneath their surface.
Algeria now has at its disposal two new Type 636M ‘Kilo’ class submarines acquired from Russia in 2014 and delivered in recent years”.
Furthermore, Algeria, it said, has recently commissioned a new order for two more of these new military vessels, adding to the four class ‘Kilo’Soviets that it already has, which some analysts downplay importance as they raise serious doubts about their operability.
Instead, explained the sources consulted in the Navy, the Spanish submarine fleet is summarized today in two S-70 – the ‘Tramontana’ and the ‘Mistral’ – operational submarines that are clearly insufficient to cover the 3,500 kilometers of coastline stretching peninsular Spain.
In addition, the situation does not look set to improve for Spain until the new S-80 submarines begin to arrive, which are not expected until 2022.