Contradictions emerge in Algeria's trade embargo on Spanish goods

The inconsistencies in Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's foreign policy approach have come to light, provoking a tense situation in the North African country. 

In June 2022, the Algerian government officially announced a total boycott of Spanish imports. This trade embargo was imposed by Tebboune as a punitive measure against Spain for aligning itself with Morocco's position in the Western Sahara conflict.

On 8 June, Algeria suspended its friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation treaty with Spain in response to this change of political stance. Three days later, Algeria froze foreign trade with the Spanish territory. 

And despite the attempt by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to mediate in the crisis between the two countries in March, the Algerian president's position remains intact.

However, it has now emerged that the boycott is not unanimously respected in Algeria, as some members of the Algerian regime have found ways to circumvent it and continue importing certain products from Spain. In particular, the Algerian army, the powerful military institution of the Maghreb country, devised an ingenious subterfuge to obtain supplies from the Spanish kingdom. Multiple Algerian security sources have confirmed to Maghreb Intelligence that spare parts for highly sensitive telecommunications equipment, which is widely used by the Algerian army, come from Spain.

To avoid disruptive shortages, the Algerian Ministry of National Defence has been importing these products through Portugal. Spanish suppliers have been sending their parts and components to Portuguese intermediaries, who then reintroduce them into the Algerian import circuit. This covert operation allows the Algerian military institution to comply with the embargo against Spain without drawing attention to itself or leaving evidence of its contradictions with President Tebboune's anti-Spanish policy.

According to several Algerian sources, this subterfuge goes beyond the military sphere and involves several government departments and private operators who use Portugal as a transit point to continue obtaining Spanish products. Many Algerian citizens do not share Tebboune's radical stance against Spain, but so far no one has openly questioned these controversial diplomatic decisions.