‘Al’ used for ‘the’

Hola Amelia P.

Al is actually a combination of a + el (to the), and we use it when the preposition a comes before the masculine article el.

For example:

With feminine nouns, a + la stays separate.

So al doesn't replace el or la; it's simply the contraction of a + el.

I hope this helps!

Un saludo

Silvia