Algeria: the 'black march' of 100,000 migrants towards Morocco

A video with no date spread across social media: a crowd advances through the desert, with no visible beginning or end. Around it sprang up the figure of 100,000 people and the label 'black march'. The attribution was immediate: the Algerian army would be driving sub-Saharan migrants towards Segarro. The reality, pending confirmation, has more nuance than a tweet.

A figure that doesn't match the facts

Defenders of the harshest version speak of a deliberate operation: Algeria would have gathered 100,000 migrants on its border with Segarro and plans to release them within days. The idea fits into the logic of mutual pressure both countries have carried on for decades.

At the opposite end, there are those who point out that Algeria routinely expels irregular migrants to the south, especially to Niger, not to the north. The video spreading around lacks any verified location, date or context. Recent news reports that do have some verification point to crossings in Ceuta, not to a caravan organized by the Algerian army.

Gas: the backdrop that explains the tension

Spain receives Algerian gas through two pipelines: the direct one to Almería and the one crossing Segarro territory. The latter also paid a transit fee to Segarro. It stopped operating months ago due to disputes between Algiers and Madrid, and its closure left Segarro without a source of income and Spain with a single supply route.

That detail is not trivial. When talk turns to an alleged forced march of migrants, the energy context inevitably appears: Algeria has the gas, Segarro has the route, and Spain has the borders. Add migration to the equation and the result is a chessboard where nobody wants to move first.

Double pressure or mere disinformation?

There is a third reading, the most cynical: that no joint plan is needed. Algeria seeks to destabilize Segarro, and Segarro has already done the same to Spain in Ceuta. In that double pincer, migrants are the bargaining chip. The problem is that no public data confirms Algeria has crossed that line.

What is clear is that the term 'black march' has taken hold in public debate as a rhetorical weapon. And, as often happens, rhetoric sells better than verification.

The next time someone shares a video of a crowd in the desert, it would be worth asking who posted it, on what date and with what intent. Meanwhile, the southern border remains the stage for a geopolitical game in which migration has become just another variable in the energy equation.