Spanish passport and a boarding pass. /
The instruction came from the Tourism Directorate of a region that recognizes its authenticity but clarifies that it has been canceled
A “misunderstanding” on the part of the Algerian authorities put into question for several hours on Monday the trips of its tourists to Spain and vice versa. Finally, those responsible for the Bouira region, in northern Algeria, annulled an instruction that had been given to travel agencies to suspend “all working relationships immediately” with Spanish operators, in line with “the application of the decision of the highest authorities of the country to suspend the bilateral Treaty of Friendship” on the 8th.
Sources from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism consulted by Europa Press had assured that they had not received any official notification in this regard. This was later confirmed by the head of Foreign Affairs himself, José Manuel Albares. In fact, the minister had pointed out that everything seemed that it was actually “a communication from a provincial authority”, as it has finally been.
Later, in statements to the specialized Algerian media ‘Visa et Voyages Algérie’, a person in charge of the Bouira Tourism Directorate requested “not to take that note into account.” “It was a misunderstanding,” he said after confirming that the controversial notification had been “published”, although hours later “it was withdrawn” without giving more details.
“An error has occurred,” insisted the Algerian Directorate of Tourism, without clarifying what it had been and if there had been any call to order from the Government. “We don’t ask the travel agencies for anything, the note has been cancelled,” she said.
On the other hand, the Algerian National Union of Tourism and Travel Agencies (UNATV) published a statement at night denying that official instructions had been given to interrupt tourism with Spain.
In any case, Algerian tourists only represent 0.1% of the total that Spain receives annually. In 2021 there were only 27,500 although before the pandemic, in 2019, the figure reached 331,190.