The Spanish Government Avoids Provoking Algeria Again

The Spanish authorities have recently been very careful to avoid any decision that could provoke Algeria, in order to avoid returning to square one in bilateral relations, after the indicators recorded in this direction in recent weeks, which were evident in the appointment of a new Algerian ambassador in Madrid.
This keenness is demonstrated by the apology of Elena Sanchez Caballero, president of the board of directors of the Spanish public radio and television “RTVE”, for publishing a map of Western Sahara as part of the map of the Kingdom of Morocco, in a way that exceeds the internationally recognized borders, and this on the fifth of last October, while the channel was about to broadcast a program on the joint hosting of the World Cup 2030, between Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Those who know the secrets of geopolitical affairs consider the Sahrawi issue as an extension of Algeria’s national security. Therefore, the Algerian position on Madrid’s change of position on the Sahrawi issue was firm and unprecedented when it decided to suspend the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness signed between the two countries in 2002. The imposition of harsh sanctions on Spanish goods caused heavy losses to the companies of this country, causing the bankruptcy of many of them, especially those whose products were widely marketed in the Algerian market.
The Spanish official considered what happened to be an “unfortunate mistake” and denied that the drawing of a map of Morocco that went beyond the internationally recognized borders and included the occupied Sahrawi territories was done on the instructions of the Spanish government headed by Pedro Sanchez, who is considered in Algeria as the main person responsible for the destruction of bilateral relations, since he unilaterally decided to abandon Spain’s historical neutral position on the Sahrawi issue.
Caballero said, based on what was reported by the Spanish agency “Europa Press”, that the officials of the program “Telediario La 1”, who made the mistake, “did not receive any instructions from the government” to publish that map, and she explained that even if they had received instructions, whatever they were, they would not be accepted, according to what the Spanish official said, who also attributed what happened to pressure and working conditions characterized by the acceleration of events.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the administration quickly gave orders to the technicians concerned to withdraw the image that showed the map of the Kingdom of Morocco crossing the internationally recognized borders and to accurately confirm the borders that separate Morocco from the occupied Sahrawi territories.
The clarifications of the President of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Public Radio and Television (RTVE) came in response to a parliamentary question submitted in writing by the deputy Enrique Santiago, official spokesman of the Izquierda Unida Party and president of Somar, which means that the issue has gone beyond its media dimension and taken on a political character thus forcing the channel to correct the mistake it has made.
Although the Spanish official indicated that the correction of the error came with an automatic review by the television channel itself, the political dimension was present in one way or another, as the incident coincided with the beginning of the recovery of Algerian-Spanish relations to a little of their health, and therefore the chairwoman of the board of directors of the channel was keen not to involve the Spanish government in the matter, so as not to anger the Algerian side, which is still very angry with the Spanish side.
The figures for exports from some Spanish provinces to Algeria until last October show that they are still below the one percent threshold.
According to the agency Europa Press, the Spanish exports from the province of Castilla de La Mancha experienced a decline of 97.8 percent, or only 0.3 million euros, between January and October of this year, which is a frightening decline that reflects the criticism of officials of Spanish institutions about exports to Algeria due to the warped policy of their Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and their demand for the government to provide compensation.