Commercial exchanges between Algeria and Spain reached the ” point mort“, according to the figures announced by the impacted companies, and relayed by the Spanish media.
Indeed, some Spanish business owners confirm that economic exchanges between Algeria and Madrid are ” paralyzed ” since last June, following the decision of the Algerian authorities to ” to suspend “ the friendship treaty concluded with Spain, after Madrid’s reversal on the Sahara issue and the announcement by the Head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, of his country’s support for the Moroccan autonomy project.
« Since June, we cannot export or import. All operations are suspended“, told AFP, Julio Libero, boss of the Spanish company ” Ecomil“, specializing in the manufacture of public works machinery.
According to the same source, the Spanish company owns 40% of the Algerian group ” Europactor ” and exercises almost all of its activities in Algeria, which puts it in a delicate position, according to Julio Libero who says to himself “ very concerned by this situation. ” Six months have passed and we have not received a single euro. It’s an unsustainable situation“, he laments.
On June 8, Algeria had suspended the treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation concluded in 2002 with Spain, to announce a few days later the freezing of banking operations and commercial transactions.
After this announcement, some companies chose to transport their goods to Algeria, via a third country, “ but it remains expensive and reduces profits by 30%“, confided to The country the Spanish economist, Samuel Lupuchino.
The expert explained that, according to official figures, Madrid’s exports to Algeria peaked at 138 million euros between June and September, compared to 625 million during the same period in 2021, a deficit of 487 million euros in just four months.
The sectors affected by this ” crisis ” according The country, range from the food, chemical and textile industries to construction and extend to other sectors. In addition, gas has been excluded from the decisions of the Algerian authorities. It has been delivered to Spain in recent months at a price that the ” Sonatrach Algérienne revised upwards a short time ago.
The glass raw materials and enamels sector, which was heavily dependent on the Algerian market, incurred more than 70 million euros due to the freezing of transactions. Spanish companies thus fear losing their market share to French and Italian competition, according to a spokeswoman for the Spanish National Assembly.
For its part, the tourism sector has also been affected by the crisis with Algeria. The region of Valencia is the one most affected by this crisis, due to the fact that tourism from Algeria constitutes an important part of the local gross domestic product, details ” The world« .
Earlier, Spanish Finance Minister Castillo Arcady confirmed that 1,400 Spanish companies were affected by Algeria’s suspension of commercial transactions, pointing out that his country had decided to grant loans amounting to 30 million euros. euros to the companies concerned in order to remedy the losses and open new production lines.
For her part, a correspondent of the Director General of the European Confederation, Marcus Bayer, indicated that the European community is deeply concerned about the “ instructions of Algeria to stop commercial transactions with Spain.