The school holidays and the New Year give Algerians a reason to celebrate away from home.
The richest among them head to France and Spain, those less wealthy like Turkey, but most Algerians choose Tunisia.
Travellers have swarmed the border posts of Oum Tboul and El Ayoun in Tarf on their way to spend their end-of-year holidays in Tunisia.
Border police officers say that some 6,000 people cross each day. Most are travelling in their own vehicles, but some, especially young people, are going on coach holidays arranged by travel agencies.
"The majority of our customers are going to Tunisia, which they know so well," says Manel Chami, who works for a travel agency in Algiers.
Shop keepers Omar Bedjaoui and Rachid Houat visit Tunisia frequently. "In Tunisia, we feel as if we're at home. We know the country very well and there's no language barrier."
But what about the security situation across the border?
"What security situation? The press is exaggerating a bit," Bedjaoui tells Magharebia. "We were there in the summer and it's nothing like what they say. There's only a political crisis which the Tunisians will sort out in the end."
"In any case, there are no kidnappings or false roadblocks," his friend interjects.
Still, the holiday celebrations are stirring up the salafists.
Algerian sheikh Abdelhfattah Zeraoui Hamadache may have failed in his attempt to get a licence to launch the country's first salafist political party, but he has been focused on trying to dissuade people from celebrating the Christian New Year.
"No to the Christian Yule log. No to the crusaders' festivities," say leaflets posted up inside Algiers mosques and outside pastry shops and a few hotels.
The salafists - who view New Year celebrations as a time where citizens engage in "rampant consumption of alcohol and dancing in cabarets until the morning" - tried unsuccessfully to get the government to ban them.
They were also unable to convince citizens. Many Algerians happily bought Yule logs and celebrated the New Year.
"They can say what they like. They're free to celebrate or stage a boycott. But they can't dictate the way we behave," says Salah Lounas, an academic.
"Armed terrorism has not gotten the better of us, and neither will verbal terrorism. No one has a monopoly over religion and no one will cause us to have any hang-ups about this subject," he adds.
Regular visitors to Tunisia confirm that the authorities are doing everything they can to reassure Algerian tourists. Police roadblocks were set up to secure the main roads used by Algerian holiday-makers once they crossed the border. Vacation resorts have also seen enhanced security.
"Co-operation with our Tunisian counterparts is exemplary," says an Algerian security officer who asks that we not use his name. "It is based on training and intelligence-sharing. And the latter is vital, because it has enabled us to thwart several attempted incursions by terrorist groups and to neutralise others."
He continues, "At the moment, the security situation around the border is under control, even though there is still a risk that Tunisian terrorist groups might switch to other kinds of activity, such as suicide attacks or political assassinations."
"But thanks to the co-operation and collaboration between the different departments in both countries, things should be kept under control and terrorist groups shouldn't have room to manoeuvre," the officer tells Magharebia.
Many Algerians say they will continue to visit Tunisia to show solidarity. They insist that their presence in Tunisia is essential.
"Let's not forget that Tunisia was the only country that left its borders open and never imposed visa restrictions on Algerians during the worst years of terrorism," says Nachida Baghdadi, a teacher.
"Now more than ever before, we must help the Tunisians to stop the extremists who want to create an atmosphere of terror and scare off the tourists, who are Tunisia's biggest source of revenue," she adds.
Rachid Fenzi also speaks of Algeria's past: "I'm thirty years old. Throughout my childhood and my youth, my life was overshadowed by the threat of terrorism. I was traumatised by it. Now, I want to lead a normal life and celebrate."
"I would have liked to spend the holidays in Algeria, but everywhere is full up, plus it's too expensive," he says. "So why not Tunisia?"
"I go there often, sometimes just to spend weekends there, and I can assure you that I've never felt the least bit afraid or experienced the slightest threat in this country. Quite the contrary," he told Magharebia.
Authorities in both countries are stepping up their efforts to make the border region secure. According to daily newspaper El Fadjr, the Algerian army has deployed 3,000 soldiers along the border with Tunisia to close the net around terrorists hiding in the scrubland.
© Magharebia.com 2014
