Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Algeriaon July 20, 2026, for talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb.
The meeting's aim was to resolve a diplomatic row that erupted between both countries in 2022 after Spain sided with Morocco's autonomy proposal to resolve the Western Sahara conflict — much to Algeria's dismay.
It is a matter of debate whether Spain's rapprochement with Algeria outraged Moroccoso much that it deliberately allowed tens of thousands of migrants to storm the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, even though both countries have improved their relations enormously in recent years. Spanish daily El Pais has certainly entertained the possibility of Moroccan meddling.
"Ceuta tensions coincided with Pedro Sanchez's trip to Algeria, a regional rival of the [Moroccan] Alawite Kingdom," an opinion piece in the Spanish paper notes. The article later states that "any attempt to use immigration as a bargaining chip is unacceptable."
Moroccan interior ministry spokesperson Rachid El Khalfi has rejected such accusations, saying the incident resulted from "the malicious exploitation of the digital space," as well as "misleading information" and misinterpretations of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling.Red Cross personnel were on the scene to support migrants who had entered the Spaish exclaveImage: Iván Zambrano/Europa Press/dpa/picture alliance
