Overview
- José Manuel Albares, who confirmed the trip Tuesday, will travel to Algiers and Oran on Thursday and Friday to meet Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf and he expects a reception by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
- The visit comes two years after a planned 2024 stop was scrapped when Algeria rejected talks that left out Western Sahara, and this round is reported to proceed with no pre-set conditions.
- Spain’s 2022 shift toward Morocco’s autonomy plan led Algeria to freeze a friendship treaty and block most Spanish exports, then send a new ambassador in late 2023 as trade began to recover with exports rising to €2.13 billion in 2025.
- Algeria supplies about 38% of Spain’s natural gas, and Albares called it a reliable top-tier partner as governments navigate a global energy crunch linked to the war in the Middle East.
- Officials say the trip is meant to prepare a high-level meeting that would bring Pedro Sánchez to Algeria, with business contacts also on the table, which could steady gas flows and reopen more sales channels for Spanish firms.