![Facade of the headquarters of the Embassy of Algeria located at Calle del General Oraa, number 12, on 20 February, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. [Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1467910732-e1740405747288.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Algerian Interior Minister Ibrahim Murad today began an official visit to Spain, the first by an Algerian official since a 2022 diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
An Interior Ministry statement said Murad will hold talks with Spanish officials to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation.
The visit was the first by an Algerian government official to Spain since the outbreak of a diplomatic crisis in 2022, after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote to Moroccan King Mohamed VI to support the North African country’s autonomy plan for the Western Sahara. The move led to the suspension of a cooperation agreement between Madrid and Algiers.
Subsequently, Algeria’s imports from Spain nearly ceased altogether, while exports from the Arab country continued to flow to the European nation, mostly consisting of natural gas, oil and petroleum products.
Today’s visit coincides with the start of a rapprochement between Algeria and Spain, with signs of improved relations between the two sides.
Last week, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf met with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa – a meeting unprecedented since the 2022 crisis.
The Western Sahara issue has been a source of tensions between Rabat and Algiers for some five decades. The issue began in 1975 after the Spanish colonial withdrawal from the region, and the conflict between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front turned into an armed struggle that lasted until 1991, when a ceasefire agreement was signed.
The UN does not recognise the sovereignty claims of either the Polisario Front or Morocco, which took control of most of Western Sahara in a 1975 agreement with Spain and Mauritania.
Morocco proposes extensive autonomy for the Western Sahara region under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front calls for a referendum on self-determination, a stance supported by Algeria, which hosts refugees from the region.
WATCH: Western Sahara explainer