Algeria and Morocco punish Spain and block the normalization of its foreign policy. Spain is the southern border of NATO and the European Union, the last allied territory before coming face to face with the Maghreb.

This objective fact is the argument that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, frequently uses to highlight the importance of relations with North Africa. The latest example of this was the cancellation last Sunday night of the visit that Albares was going to make to Algiers.