Spanish FM denies link between his aborted trip to Algeria and Sanchez’s Morocco visit

Spain’s Foreign Minister Manuel Albares denied the suggestions that his cancellation of the visit to Algiers on February 12 was associated with the Spanish Prime Minister’s trip to Morocco on February 21.

During a press conference, Albares affirmed that Pedro Sanchez’s visit to Morocco to meet King Mohammed VI was underway before he aborted his planned trip to Algeria.

“Of course, the Prime Minister’s trip to Morocco was in the works and planned long before,” underscored Spain’s Foreign Minister, adding that “postponements of international trips do happen.”

Albares reiterated that he called off the visit to the Algerian capital due to agenda reasons on Algeria’s side.

However, he did not provide any details on whether there have been discussions to reschedule the visit to the North African country in the near future.

Last month, Iberian news outlet El Confidencial reported that Spain’s Foreign Minister’s scheduled state visit to Algiers was scrapped at the eleventh hour due to his refusal to engage in discussions around the Sahara.

Albares informed his Algerian counterparts beforehand that he intended to be involved in talks only on topics related to bilateral issues, avoiding discussions on the Sahara file if the conversation turned to regional problems.

As a result, President Tebboune declined to meet Spain’s Foreign Minister at the palace, recommending Algerian Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui take his place instead, much to Albares’ displeasure.

The source previously mentioned the Algerian President’s busy schedule prevented a meeting with the Spanish head of diplomacy, which led Albares to choose not to travel to Algiers.

Algerian media outlet, Echorouk, on the other hand, reported, before deleting the article from its website, that the preparations for Spain’s Minister continued until late Sunday evening. However, the trip was aborted as the preparatory process failed to yield conclusive results.