Spain has still not authorized the shipment of gas to Morocco via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline in the reverse direction. The Spanish authorities are hesitant to give the green light to start the operation, probably due to threats from Algeria.
Algeria has reduced the amount of natural gas it supplies to Spain via the Medgaz pipeline by about 25% compared to mid-March levels, according to daily monitoring data collected by Enagás, the Spanish energy company.
Algeria continues to threaten to cut off gas supplies to Spain if it supplies Morocco as part of its new partnership with the latter.
Spain’s change of position on the Moroccan Sahara has prompted Algeria to threaten to break its contract with its partner, who intends to reopen the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline in the opposite direction to transport gas to Morocco via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) as part of a new trade agreement with the kingdom. Revelations have been made about the relaunch of the GME, which highlight the hypocrisy of the Algerian authorities.
For the "first time", Morocco will buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the international market and transport it to its territory via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) in the opposite direction, after having it transformed in a regasification plant in Spain. The operation should generate a profit of 10 million euros for Spain.
Morocco has been steadily increasing its military budget in recent years. This year, the kingdom plans to invest nearly 5 billion euros in the modernization and strengthening of its army, which represents 4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Algeria is desperately looking for a scapegoat. After the accusations against Cameroon and Bakary Gassama, the referee of the 2022 World Cup playoff between the Fennecs and the Indomitable Lions, it is the Franco-Moroccan comedian Jamel Debbouze who is in the sights of the Algerian press.
The third vice-president and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has reassured her Algerian counterpart, Mohamed Arka, that "under no circumstances" will Algerian gas be transported to Morocco.
Algeria has threatened to break its gas supply contracts with Spanish companies if a single drop of its gas is resold to Morocco as part of the new agreement with Spain to transport gas to the kingdom via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME).
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, expressed on Wednesday in Congress Spain’s desire to maintain "the best neighborly relations" with both Algeria and Morocco.
At the initiative of the Popular Party (PP), supported by the other parliamentary groups in Congress, with the exception of the PSOE, Podemos and Bildu, President Pedro Sanchez will be summoned to explain the fallout from his new relationship with Morocco, after the change of position on the Sahara, and its consequences on Spain’s relations with Algeria.
A diplomatic rift is gradually setting in between Spain and Algeria. The latter has reacted to the statements made by José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, in response to the declaration of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Spain’s change of position on the Sahara.