ALGIERS, Algeria

Algerian Interior Minister Ibrahim Murad began an official visit to Spain on Monday, 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 Western Sahara. The move led to the suspension of cooperation between the two countries.

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.

Monday’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, José Manuel Albares, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa – a meeting unprecedented since the 2022 crisis.

The Algerian-Spanish rapprochement comes amid sharp tensions in Algeria’s relations with France, with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune warning just days ago of an irreparable "rupture."

French President Emmanuel Macron also angered Algeria by sending a message to the Moroccan king to express support for the autonomy proposal for the Western Sahara.

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 recognize 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.