Algeria summons its ambassador to Madrid

The Spanish Government has not yet finished closing the conflict with Morocco when it has just opened another one with Algeria, the country that supplies Spain with almost half of the gas it consumes and whose collaboration in matters of irregular emigration is almost as necessary as that of Morocco .

Algeria has summoned this Saturday its ambassador in Madrid, Said Moussi, surprised by the "sharp turn" of the Spanish authorities in the Western Sahara conflict.

The decision comes a day after the Royal Palace of Morocco released the letter in which the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, states that the Moroccan autonomy project for Western Sahara is "the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the contentious".

Algeria is the main ally and protector of the Polisario Front, an organization that calls for a self-determination referendum for the Saharawi population.

This Saturday morning, the Tout sur l'Algérie (TSA) digital website offered a clue as to what Algiers' position would be.

An Algerian source close to the Western Sahara issue told TSA that the Spanish government's decision to support Morocco's theses is "a second historical betrayal by Madrid towards the Saharawi people, after the disastrous agreement of 1975".

The praise that Pedro Sánchez made of the Rabat regional proposal for Western Sahara, as "the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute" has sparked criticism from the opposition, from its government partners, from United We Can.

On November 14, 1975, Spain signed an agreement with Morocco and Mauritania in which it undertook to leave its colony before February 28, 1976. Finally, on February 26, 1976, Spain left Western Sahara and ceded the bulk of the territory to Morocco and a third to Mauritania.

The agreement was signed without consulting the Polisario Front, which that same year would wage war against Mauritania and Morocco.

This Friday, February 18, the Royal Palace of Morocco published a letter sent by Pedro Sánchez where the President of Spain maintains that the autonomy proposal that Rabat presented to the United Nations in April 2007 is the "most serious, realistic and credible base for the resolution of the dispute.

Another Algerian diplomatic source also cited by TSA told the aforementioned medium, on condition of anonymity: “Finally, Morocco has obtained what it wanted from Spain.”

The crisis comes at the worst moment, when the Government is enveloped in a cloud of problems largely linked to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine: fuel price records, fractures with government partners due to the increase in defense spending.

And now, Western Sahara, a conflict with which not only the militants of United We Can feel very close, but also part of the electorate of the PSOE.