The first day of the Spanish foreign minister’s visit to Algiers ended on a positive note for Madrid. Following a meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Spain’s top diplomat, José Manuel Albares, announced that Algeria had decided to reactivate the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness between the two countries, originally signed on October 8, 2002, in Algiers during a visit by former Prime Minister José María Aznar.
The treaty had been suspended in June 2022 by Algiers in response to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s refusal to withdraw his support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara.
At the time, the Algerian president stated that «the Spanish authorities have embarked on a campaign aimed at justifying the position they have adopted on the Sahara, in violation of their legal, moral, and political obligations as an administering power of the territory, which weigh on Spain until the decolonization of Western Sahara is declared complete by the United Nations».
He further argued that «this attitude of the Spanish government violates international legality stemming from its status as an administering power and undermines the efforts of the United Nations and the Secretary-General’s personal envoy, while directly contributing to the deterioration of the situation in Western Sahara and the region».
Albares welcomes a «new phase» in relations
Four years later, Algiers appears to have softened its stance, setting aside the conditions it had imposed in spring 2022 for normalizing ties with Madrid. «I can affirm today that friendship and partnership between Spain and Algeria are entering a new phase», José Manuel Albares said on Thursday.
The Spanish foreign minister also highlighted the two countries’ commitment to «strengthening their energy partnership», noting that «for the past three years, Algeria has been Spain’s main supplier of hydrocarbons». In his remarks following talks with the Algerian president, Albares avoided addressing the Sahara issue.
The reactivation of the treaty is part of a broader normalization process already underway. In November 2023, Algiers proposed appointing a new ambassador to Madrid, replacing the one recalled for consultations on March 19, 2022, by decision of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, effectively ending a 17-month diplomatic rift.
Algeria also lifted the economic sanctions imposed in June 2022 on Spanish companies in response to Pedro Sánchez’s support for Morocco’s position on the Sahara, an approach the Spanish prime minister continues to maintain.
The situation also highlights a broader reality: on the Sahara issue, Algeria has not pressed Spain or France in the same way it has refrained from doing with the United States or the United Kingdom.