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Fernando Grande-Marlaska,
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, will visit Algeria this Monday, October 20 to meet with his Algerian counterpart Said Sayoud on numerous bilateral issues including immigration and security cooperation, the Young Independent learned from the Spanish Minister of the Interior in Madrid.
This visit, which will be the first by a member of Pedro Sanchez’s government to Algeria since March 2002, follows that made by Brahim Merad, the former Minister of the Interior, in February 2025.
Grande-Marlaska will be accompanied by a delegation that will be composed of the general directors of International Relations and Foreigners Elena Garzón, of Civil Protection and Emergency Situations, Virginia Barcones, the general director of Road Safety, Pere Navarro, the general commissioner of Foreigners and Borders of the National Police, Julián Ávila and the head of the Border Command and Maritime Police of the Guard civil, Manuel Navarrete.
The meeting between the two officials takes place in a context where illegal immigration has reached its maximum in the Balearic Islands, via the Algerian maritime route. A path which, from January to the end of last month, was taken by nearly 6,000 citizens from Africa, or 84% more than the previous year, according to reports from the Ministry of the Interior.
The incessant arrivals of Algerian and sub-Saharan harraga had pushed Spanish and Algerian officials to work together to curb, if not reduce, the phenomenon, through common mechanisms. Many illegal immigrants, including minors, are in reception centers, particularly in Almeria and Alicante. But even more serious, Algeria has become the departure point for sub-Saharan illegal immigrants and Somalis.
In the last four months, from June to September, 1,900 people arrived in the Canary Islands on 34 boats, compared to 3,900 who reached the Balearic coasts on 224 boats. Thus, the Balearic Islands welcomed twice as many immigrants (105.26% more) than the Canary Islands during this period.
Since the start of the year, illegal immigration to Spain has decreased by 35.1% compared to the previous year. This drop is explained by the slowdown in arrivals to the Canaries, which welcomed 12,878 people until September, or 58.3% less than in 2024, when more than 30,000 people arrived on these islands.
The latest statistics also showed that a large proportion of people who previously tried to reach the Canaries by sea are now trying to reach the other archipelago from Algeria, according to police sources. Until a few years ago, only Algerians and Moroccans arrived, but today the majority are sub-Saharans.
However, the talks between officials of the two countries will not be limited to the issue of illegal immigration. The two sides are expected to discuss road safety management. Algeria intends to take advantage of the Spanish experience in the management of road traffic and traffic jams which constitute a daily headache for users. Cooperation in managing natural disasters and fires will be part of the discussions. Algiers and Madrid plan to launch exchanges and training in this chapter.
In addition, officials from the two countries will also discuss cooperation in the security field in the Maghreb region and the Sahel, the fight against terrorism and organized crime.
A meeting of the Joint Commission was held on October 14 in Madrid dedicated to examining means to consolidate bilateral coordination in the fight against terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration.
The Spanish Director General of International Relations, Elena Garzón, and the Director of Cooperation at the Algerian Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and Transport, Kamel Kaili, led the work of the Joint Commission for monitoring the security convention between Spain and Algeria signed in Algiers on June 15, 2008.