Skip to main content
When Algeria supported separatist movements to carry out terrorist attacks in Spain.

When Algeria supported separatist movements to carry out terrorist attacks in Spain.

Interference in the internal affairs of Spain is considered a constant in Algerian policy. Algeria's attempts to destabilize Spain date back many years.

The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, does not hesitate to urge Algeria to stop "its interference in the internal affairs" of his country. The latest call came on Sunday, April 23, in an interview he gave to the daily El Espanol.

Despite these repeated calls, Algerian authorities continue to turn a deaf ear. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stated that "Spain committed an unfriendly act towards Algeria" in an attempt to justify the suspension of the friendship treaty with Spain and the closure of the Algerian market to Spanish exporters.

In this way, the Algerian president is following in the footsteps of his ancestors, who made the issue of the Sahara a defining factor in the relationship between Algeria and Madrid.

In its obsession with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean and long before playing the Polisario card, Algeria bet on the movement for the self-determination and independence of the Canary Islands (MPAIAC), which was launched in 1964 from the Algerian capital under the leadership of Antonio Cubillo (1930-2012).

 

Antonio Cubillo (a la izquierda) junto con el presidente de Argelia, Houari Boumediène.
Antonio Cubillo (on the left) alongside the President of Algeria, Houari Boumediene.

 

Thanks to the strong mobilization of Algerian diplomacy, this separatist party was recognized in 1968 by the Organization of African Unity as the representative of the people of the Canary Islands.

At that time, Algeria trained the military wing of the MPAIAC to launch attacks against Spain. In 1976, this militia carried out terrorist attacks on a store in Las Palmas, and in 1977, it attacked Tenerife airport.

 

Argelia insiste en la independencia canaria

 

With the establishment of the Polisario Front, Algeria's interest in the movement for self-determination and independence for the Canary Islands declined. Its founder, Antonio Cubillo, was forced to return to Spain in 1985 after 20 years of exile in Algeria, and the movement disappeared.

In addition to providing financial and diplomatic support to the MPAIAC, Algeria also hosted the Basque terrorist organization ETA, which called for the independence of the Basque Country. The leadership of ETA found refuge in the Algerian capital.

The Algerian capital was a scene of settling scores between ETA's moderate wing, which supported dialogue with Madrid, and its radical wing. In 1986, Rikardo Orbea Etxeberria died in an accident in the Algerian capital.

 

txomin iturbe

 

Despite ETA's involvement in several terrorist attacks in Spain (such as in Barcelona in June 1987, which resulted in 23 deaths, and in Zaragoza in December 1987, where 11 people were killed), Algeria did not sever its ties with the organization.

This continued until 1989, when the movement decided to violate the ceasefire with Spain. At that time, Algeria decided to expel six senior officials of ETA.

 

Han seguido cursos en la Escuela de Policía de Argel

 

Like the terrorist acts committed by the Polisario against Spanish citizens and interests, there is no discussion in Spain of Algeria's support for the two separatist movements.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML