El Confidencial: Spanish exporters to Algeria intend to file complaint against Pedro Sanchez
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Spain has been going on for a year. It was provoked by the Spanish government, led by Pedro Sanchez, which announced on March 18, 2022 an unlooked-for reversal in its position on the question of Western Sahara, supporting Morocco’s plan for this occupied territory.
In response, Algeria took several measures against Spain, recalling its ambassador in Madrid on March 19 last year. This decision was followed, on June 8, by the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborhood between Algeria and Spain signed in 2002.
Then, on June 9, 2022, Algeria also decided to freeze bank domiciliations for foreign trade operations of products and services, from and to Spain.
This last measure has had a strong impact on Spanish companies that depend on the Algerian market. Spanish companies trading with Algeria have suffered losses amounting to millions of euros due to this crisis.
Last March, during his visit to Algeria, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell tackled the “obstacles” introduced since June 2022 by the Algeria to commercial exchanges with Spain, which “must find a solution”.
Spanish exports “have fallen sharply and in a general way”
Before the crisis caused by the Spanish reversal on the question of Western Sahara, Algerian-Spanish relations had experienced their “golden age” since 2013, noted on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 the Spanish media ABC, which added that the restrictions on the banking operations for foreign trade between Algeria and Spain, imposed by the Algerian government last June, had the direct consequence of a drop in exports.
“In 2022, following the restrictive measures put in place by Algeria, our exports fell sharply and in a generalized manner in all sectors. The rate of decline accelerated from June to reach 93% in December. That month, 10.8 million euros were exported, compared to a monthly average of 169 million euros in the period “January-May 2022,”” Spain’s Secretary of State for Commerce told ABC. He also pointsed out that imports “have increased under the effect of energy prices. Over the whole year, they increased by 59%.”
Accordingly, the Iberian newspaper El Confidencial revealed that Spanish exporters to Algeria, heavily impacted by the freezing of the friendship and cooperation treaty, have decided to appeal to justice against Pedro Sanchez, President of the Spanish government, who caused a shortfall of nearly two billion euros since Algiers took legitimate retention measures against Madrid.
The number of Spanish companies that exported their goods to Algeria is several hundred. In this draft complaint, Pedro Sanchez is accused of having “dragged his paw” to encourage the European Commission to adopt reprisals against Algeria.
Economically and socially speaking, Spain is on the edge of the abyss, as confirmed by the Madrid native Fernando Novo Lens, president of the Miguel de Cervantes association.
Reports indicate that Morocco used the Pegasus spyware to monitor Sanchez and other Spanish officials. The Spanish government has accused Morocco of attempting to blackmail them into accepting the country’s territorial claims over Western Sahara. The incident has drawn condemnation from political leaders and civil society groups, who have called for an investigation into the matter.
