El Djamila, Algeria

El Djamila, Algeria: Submarine Cable Landing Point

El Djamila is a coastal location in Algeria, situated along the Mediterranean shore and serving as a landing point for international submarine cable infrastructure. One submarine cable lands at El Djamila, connecting Algeria directly to Spain across the western Mediterranean. This single cable link establishes a northward corridor from the Algerian coast to the Iberian Peninsula, enabling intercontinental connectivity between North Africa and Europe.

The Alpal-2 cable, which reaches El Djamila, represents Algeria's earliest submarine cable connection, with a ready-for-service date of 2002. As the country's first operational submarine cable, this system marked the beginning of Algeria's integration into the international undersea cable network.

Cables Landing at El Djamila

Alpal-2 is a submarine cable spanning 312 kilometres, with a ready-for-service date of 2002, listed at draft status. The system connects El Djamila in Algeria to Spain, crossing the western Mediterranean. This relatively short cable reflects the geographic proximity of the Algerian and Spanish coastlines across the Mediterranean Sea, forming a direct bilateral link between North Africa and southern Europe.

Regional Context

Within Algeria's submarine cable network, El Djamila sits alongside five other landing points: Algiers, which hosts three cables; Annaba, which also hosts three; Oran, with two cables; and Bejaia and Collo, each hosting one cable. With a single cable, El Djamila ranks alongside Bejaia and Collo at the lower end of the country's landing point hierarchy by cable count, though it remains within the top half of Algeria's six landing points. The landing point is notable for hosting the country's first submarine cable system.

Network Role

El Djamila functions as a single-cable terminus rather than a multi-cable hub, anchoring one direct route between Algeria and Spain. The Alpal-2 system places El Djamila at the origin of a bilateral Mediterranean corridor linking North Africa to Europe, a route that was established at the very start of Algeria's submarine cable era in 2002. This connection offers a geographically compact crossing of the western Mediterranean, distinct from the longer international routes served by Algeria's more cable-dense landing points such as Algiers and Annaba.

Within the broader Algerian submarine cable graph, El Djamila represents a historically significant point of entry: the site where Algeria's first undersea cable made landfall. Although the landing point carries only a single system, its role in anchoring the Spain–Algeria corridor gives it a defined position in the regional network alongside the country's larger multi-cable hubs.