29.09.2026 · AGENDA PÚBLICA
Filippo Simonelli and Diego Caballero-Vélez examine cooperation and competition between Spain and Italy in North Africa in Agenda Pública.
In Agenda Pública, IEAM associate researchers Filippo Simonelli and Diego Caballero-Vélez examine a relationship combining shared interests and rivalry. Spain and Italy both seek a stronger presence in North Africa, but their diplomatic, economic and migration strategies increasingly overlap. The authors describe this dynamic as competitive cooperation.
Morocco and Algeria are central to this balance. Spain needs to preserve border cooperation with Rabat while rebuilding its relationship with Algiers. Italy is strengthening its ties with Morocco through the Mattei Plan while maintaining close energy and strategic links with Algeria. These relationships create opportunities for cooperation as well as competition.
The Ceuta crisis illustrates the European consequences of these tensions. The authors argue that domestic political pressures encourage immediate national responses that can spread difficulties into the Schengen area. Their analysis places migration governance within a wider Mediterranean relationship: one state’s decisions affect its partners, and an isolated national response cannot resolve a shared crisis.