Hommam Al Nassim 
Algeria on Monday returned its ambassador to Madrid, a year after he withdrew it in protest at Spain’s bias towards Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
The return was not followed by the full lifting of the ban on trade with the southern Mediterranean neighbour, suggesting a continuing dispute.
Spanish media confirmed that Algerian diplomat Abdelfattah Daghmoum was with 5 other ambassadors who presented their credentials to King Felipe VI.
Last November, Algeria announced the decision to return its ambassador to Madrid, after high-level meetings last September in New York.
Algeria followed its decision to cancel a partial ban on materials and products it used to buy from Spain, which it had stopped importing in March 2023, after King Mohammed VI announced that he had received a letter from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sachñez, expressing support for the autonomy proposal, which Algeria and the “polisario” strongly reject.
Algerian government sources confirmed that the decision to return the ambassador to Madrid was taken after Sanchez gave positive signals regarding Spain’s return to its neutrality from the Sahara conflict, referring to the head of government’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, in which he stressed that his country supports a mutually acceptable political solution regarding Western Sahara.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares was arranged to visit Algeria in February as a message from both sides to end their differences.
However, relations relapsed after the Spanish prime minister’s visit to Morocco, where the Moroccan Royal Court announced Spain’s support for Morocco’s autonomy plan, leading to the cancellation of the Spanish foreign minister’s agreed visit to Algeria.
In an attempt to settle diplomatic differences between Algeria and Spain, Algeria has been instrumental in trying to put the Spanish head of government to the test, by hosting its foreign minister on a planned visit to Algeria.
The aim of this visit was for the President of the Spanish Government to issue statements confirming Spain’s continued neutrality on the issue of Western Sahara. However, the Spanish foreign minister’s reticence on the move led to the cancellation of the visit at the last minute.
Reports indicated that this reservation was the result of the Spanish Foreign Minister’s desire to avoid discussing the Western Sahara issue, while Algeria insisted that the issue should remain on the agenda.
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