Spain and Algeria

Abstract

During the last quarter of a century, Spain’s relations with Algeria, while just as difficult as those with Morocco, have acquired comparable importance as a foundation of Madrid’s Mediterranean diplomacy. Although more recent, the relationship with Algeria is seen by Spanish diplomats as a ‘key bilateral’, owing both to the intrinsic importance and proximity of the North African country and to Spanish determination to overcome excessive national dependency, in two respects. In the context of expanding interests, Madrid’s aim has been to diversify Spain’s Mediterranean relations so as to make her less crucially reliant on cooperation with Rabat, while in terms of energy requirements, the policy since the 1970s has been to diversify both the variety and sources of imported energy in order to reduce what in the late Franco period was a dangerously high level of dependence on oil from the Middle East.