Relationship dossier
Algeria
Spain
Relationship assessment
Energy ties persist amid a serious dispute over Spain’s position on Western Sahara
Algeria toward Spain
-35Algeria suspended its Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness and Cooperation with Spain in June 2022 and imposed trade restrictions after Spain backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara. Algerian gas supplies to Spain continued despite the diplomatic dispute.
Spain toward Algeria
-25Spain’s government backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara in 2022, prompting a serious deterioration in relations with Algeria. Spain continued receiving Algerian gas, maintaining an important area of bilateral cooperation.
Overall relationship
-20The relationship rests partly on significant energy ties, but the 2022 dispute over Western Sahara led to a suspended friendship treaty and trade restrictions. Continued gas supplies have preserved a practical connection without resolving the political rupture.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Algeria and Spain have had substantial energy ties, including Algerian gas supplies to Spain, alongside a sharp diplomatic and economic dispute after Spain backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara in 2022. Algeria suspended its friendship treaty with Spain and imposed trade restrictions, while gas deliveries continued. The relationship combines an important energy connection with unresolved political friction.
Areas of tension
- Spain’s support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara
- Algeria’s suspension of the friendship treaty and trade restrictions
Key developments
Spain backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, triggering a major diplomatic dispute with Algeria.
Algeria suspended its Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness and Cooperation with Spain.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of Algeria’s trade restrictions are unclear.
- The extent of subsequent efforts to restore political and economic cooperation is uncertain.