Spain seeks alternative markets to Algeria in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal

Media platforms revealed that the authorities in some Spanish provinces established a team of specialists and economists with the aiming of searching for alternative sources to the Algerian markets in North Africa.

Spanish sources pointed out that the regional government of the “Murcia” Region has opened communication channels with the affected companies to provide the government with the necessary information about the markets and the development of the crisis with Algeria.

According to the Spanish “La Verdad” newspaper, an independent civil bloc in the region is looking for alternative markets to substitute Algeria in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal.

The newspaper noted that the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and some universities and institutes have established an operational working group specialised in trade with North African markets to deal with the current trade crisis with Algeria.

According to the regional executive director, the group is working to establish communication channels to study the situation and provide data on the real affected companies, before starting to assess the situation of the current crisis.

For her part, Valle Miguélez, the local government advisor, said that “the main problem, for the time being, is the goods that have left the region, where it is still not clear whether the Algerian authorities will allow them to enter.”

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The group supervises the process of communicating with traders in North African markets, aiming at finding alternatives to Algerian goods, specifically in Morocco, Senegal and Egypt.

In turn, Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, denounced, on Saturday, the European Union statement in which it warned Algeria of the repercussions of the trade restrictions it imposed on Spain after Algeria suspended the Treaty of Friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation with Madrid after changing its position on the issue of Western Sahara.

Lamamra said in a statement: “Algeria denounces and rejects the hasty and unfounded statements issued yesterday in the name of the European Union that followed the sovereign decision taken by Algeria to suspend the Treaty of Friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation that binds it with Spain.”

“Algeria rejects and considers the hints on the issue of gas supply to Spain as fanciful and malicious, while the President of the Republic himself has formally confirmed the Algerian company’s intention to fulfil its relevant contractual obligations,” Lamamra said.

Lamamra continued: “The haste and bias in these statements reveal the inappropriateness of their content, where the matter is related to a political difference with a European country of a bilateral nature that does not affect Algeria’s commitments to the European Union concerning the European Union. Therefore, this does not require, in any way, the launch of any European consultation for collective reaction.”

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