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The hotel The Palace of Barcelona, one of the most prestigious in the Catalan capital, which belonged to the former imprisoned businessman Ali Haddad, has been officially recovered by Algeria, reported this Tuesday the Spanish daily Vanguardia citing judicial sources.
Formerly known as the Ritz, the oldest luxury hotel in the city, has been owned by the Algerian state for several weeks, indicates the Spanish newspaper.
The National Investment Fund (FNI) of Algeria, a public financial institution which reports directly to the head of the Algerian government, received on August 1, 2025 notification of “full possession of the estate” which houses the establishment, at number 664-668 of Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, the street connecting Plaça de Espana and Plaça de Universidad in Barcelona.
The operation was carried out through a “donation in payment”, a legal mechanism allowing a debt to be settled by transferring real estate, indicates the daily, which specifies that the entry in the Barcelona land register mentions a voluntary donation instead of a judicial seizure.
Hotel El Palace, is a historic hotel in Eixample, in the center of the city of Barcelona, Spain, founded by César Ritz, formerly known as the Ritz Hotel.
The building was bought in 2011 by Ali Haddad for an amount of 68 million euros from Joan Gaspart’s Husa Group. A mortgage of 26 million euros remains registered with Banco Santander, the repayment of which is now assumed by the FNI. Even if the final registration of the deed is still in progress, Spanish law establishes that ownership is transferred upon notarial signature.
This transaction earned Haddad, among other things, accusations of corruption and illegal transfer of funds abroad.
During his speech on the sidelines of his visit to the Ministry of Defense recently, President Tebboune alluded to the recovery of the hotel in question without mentioning it by name.
“In Spain, the authorities returned to us a five-star hotel illicitly acquired by a person, using embezzled funds. “, he announced on this occasion.
In 2022, the Algerian authorities issued letters rogatory to around ten European countries to demand the restitution of ill-gotten assets including El Palace in Barcelona.