Algeria is one of the primary countries of origin for clandestine migrants arriving in Spain and across Europe. According to data from Frontex, identified by Le Monde, the so-called "Western Mediterranean" migration route, which connects the Maghreb coast to Spain, saw a 34% increase in usage over one year. However, the total number of irregular migrants heading to Europe has decreased in the first months of 2026. From January to April 2026, Algerians who entered Spain clandestinely made up 42% of the 5,647 arrivals recorded, followed by Moroccans at 22%. In 2025, the majority of migrants using this route came from Algeria. Sociologists have described the phenomenon as a "malaise" among young people in Algeria, who find few future prospects in their country. Despite the high cost and risks of the journey, many are seeking an "elsewhere" free from social constraints. The term "harraga," used to describe clandestine migrants leaving Algeria for Europe, reflects this phenomenon. Saïd Belguidoum, an emeritus professor at Aix-Marseille University and researcher at the Institute of Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (Iremam), explains that these migrants are not primarily fleeing political, cultural, or economic exile, but rather a country that does not offer them a future. Algeria's economic growth is estimated at 3.8% by the International Monetary Fund, with a youth unemployment rate of 29.4% in 2025. The informal economy remains significant in the country. "The economic lever exists, but it is no longer the only reason for departure," Belguidoum notes. "It is a systemic crisis, societal, linked to the malaise of a new generation that does not find its place in a society in full evolution." Kamel Chachoua, a researcher at the CNRS and Iremam, highlights that today's North African youth differ from those of the 2000s. These young people are more demanding, often financially supported by their parents, and have developed a certain rationality. He also points out the decline in the age of marriage in many societies. "They do not commit to a life in these countries," he says. The figures for clandestine crossings also overlook legal migration through visas, which includes graduates in fields like medicine, computer science, and engineering. "These are young people who love life, who are not there to work at any price and who find, through social networks, word of mouth, and the media, that life in Europe is undoubtedly better," the researcher adds. Among the reasons for departure, Chachoua also notes the unpopularity of the regimes in power in the Maghreb. "There is a double authoritarian situation: political authoritarianism that has radicalized with the global climate and economic poverty that has radicalized the population," he says. During the last legislative elections in Algeria, the participation rate was less than 22%. "Political power is in a deadlock, it does not have a societal project," adds Belguidoum. "It has its nationalist slogans, but it is a power without a social base." This exile, sometimes undertaken at the risk of their lives, also has a significant cost. A passage to Spain via the Mediterranean costs between 2,000 and 5,000 euros, or between 300,000 and 755,000 Algerian dinars, according to Belguidoum. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 2,292 people have died or are missing on the maritime routes leading to Europe since the beginning of 2026. "They know that it will be difficult, that they will live without papers, without being declared, in a climate of rising racism," says the sociologist. "But they will build themselves in an elsewhere, freed from the yoke of the society to which they belong and with which, paradoxically, they remain in contact."