The cold which characterizes Algerian-Spanish diplomatic relations and its impact on the economic aspect pushed many Spanish companies to circumvent the obstacles to exporting their products, through intermediary companies in Portugal, and by creating subsidiaries there.
According to sources cited by Spanish media: “Many companies – given the current diplomatic relations between Algeria and Spain – have a lot of problems exporting their products. A reality that has led a good number of them to create intermediary companies in Portugal, via which they ship their products to Algeria. “The production comes from Spain, but the boat and the exporting company are Portuguese,” specifies the same source.
The Spanish newspaper The Objective further emphasizes, citing economic sources, that in addition to intermediary companies, “many companies are now creating subsidiaries” in Portugal. “Everyone in our sector does it,” the frozen food companies told the newspaper. A sector which is not the only one affected, according to the media indicates that “the most exported goods from Spain to Algeria are four in number: agri-food products, industrial and technological products, consumer goods and drinks.
Furthermore, continues The Objective, “There is already a specific Spanish logistics company which has established itself in Portugal to serve as a bridge for other Spanish companies” wishing to import to Algeria. The professional organizations affected by this situation, such as the Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Machinery and Capital Goods for the Ceramic Industry (Asebec), for their part prefer not to comment on the situation and limit themselves to brief statements.
“The only thing we know is that Algeria will reinstate its ambassador to Spain. For our part, we can only hope that commercial relations are re-established and that we can continue to work directly with our customers,” they emphasize. It should be mentioned in this regard that the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed, Friday, November 17, in a press release, the appointment of a new Algerian ambassador to Madrid, nineteen months after the start of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Other companies specializing in sending goods assure that “they have had many problems with Algeria since the start of the crisis. We see this because goods are no longer loaded on ships. A situation which is not compensated by an increase in exports to Morocco.
These have even decreased. Finally, they emphasize that the sector is also trying to promote exports from French ports. The newspaper indicates that in this context, “two countries are taking advantage of the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Algeria. On the one hand, Portugal has intensified its commercial relations, particularly in the energy field, which is now benefiting from the ‘disembarkation’ of Spanish companies.
On the other hand, Italy, through the government of Giorgia Meloni, has signed agreements with the African country to build large infrastructures, such as the SoutH2Corridor gas pipeline, a 3,300-kilometer tube prepared for the transport of hydrogen which should be the main transport network in Europe,” writes The Objective.
“Relations between Spain and Algeria remain very cold, despite the news in recent weeks of the arrival of a new Algerian ambassador. Uncertainty is at its peak, as is distrust. A few months ago, last August, Algiers defined the relationship with our country as “stagnant,” the media underlines. Despite these difficulties, which have led part of the industrial fabric to seek commercial engineering formulas to avoid “vetos”, Algerian exports have increased, notably thanks to gas.
Spain continues to be very dependent on these hydrocarbons, as monthly statistics from Enagás demonstrate. According to the latest report, “Algeria is our main gas supplier, with 28.8% of the total exported. If we take into account the last month for which data is available, the gas exported represented almost 50% of the quota,” notes the Spanish media.
