Algeria: Minister’s visit to Spain ends diplomatic freeze
On February 24th, Algeria’s Interior Minister, Brahim Merad, arrived in Spain, making it the highest-level visit between the two nations since Algiers cut ties with Madrid almost three years ago, The New Arab reported.
Merad met with his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska in Madrid. Merad reaffirmed Algeria’s dedication to security cooperation with Spain and tackling cross-border crime.
Grande-Marlaska commended Algeria’s role in dismantling smuggling networks that transport migrants across the Mediterranean. He said: “The essential work Algeria has done to fight mafia trading in human lives has led to the dismantling of numerous criminal organisations at the source”
Since November 2024, Algeria has shut down more than ten operations of the kind.
Spain has also increased its efforts, with prosecutors seeking an eight-year sentence for an Algerian accused of piloting a migrant boat from Oran to Spain in January 2025, charging each passenger €7,000.
With intelligence-sharing resuming on terrorism, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling, Algeria appears willing to forgive Spain, for its 2022 policy shift on the Western Sahara territory—an issue of major diplomatic importance for Algiers.
However, Algeria’s ongoing efforts to strengthen security cooperation with Spain come amid concerns about Algeria’s financial governance, as the country remains on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, a designation that has negative implications for its international credibility and investment climate.
The dispute that led to the three-year standoff began when Spain backed Morocco’s 2007 autonomy proposal for the Western Sahara territory. The proposal was supposed to permit Saharawis to govern themselves “democratically” while Morocco retains control over foreign affairs and defence.
While the UN supported this plan, Algeria and the Polisario Front have opposed it. Algeria, which strongly supports the Polisario Front, was angered by how the matter had developed.
Algeria responded in 2022 by recalling its ambassador, suspending political visits, and reducing Spanish imports by 93%. However, diplomatic ties have gradually improved.
In 2023, after a 19-month vacancy, Algeria reappointed its ambassador to Madrid, and the Spanish and Algerian foreign ministers met during a G20 summit.
While Spain has managed to mend relations, France continues to face tensions with Algeria. Algiers has refused to cooperate with Paris on deporting at least four Algerians accused of inciting violence, including one individual France unsuccessfully attempted to expel ten times before he allegedly carried out a stabbing attack in Mulhouse, France.
This refusal has added further strain to an already difficult relationship, shaped by France’s 132-year colonisation of Algeria and further aggravated by its recent recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Spain has continued to advocate for “a politically acceptable solution for both parties” concerning the Western Sahara matter. The country has said this should come “within the framework of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions.”
But in July, President Emmanuel Macron declared that “the present and future of Western Sahara lie within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.”
In February 2025, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati traveled to Laayoune, the territory’s key city, alongside her Moroccan counterpart, Mehdi Bensaid, to inaugurate a French cultural centre.
Algeria’s foreign ministry condemned the visit, describing it as a “blatant disregard for international legality by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
The New Arab
