Algeria restores envoy to Madrid after two years of diplomatic dispute

Algeria has finally reinstated its envoy to Madrid after a two-year-long diplomatic dispute with Spain over its policy shift on the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

On Monday, 8 April, Algerian diplomat Abdelfettah Daghmoum officially presented his credentials to Spain's King Felipe VI, marking the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In March 2022, Spain reversed decades of neutrality on the Western Sahara conflict by announcing its support for Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed territory, which offers limited self-government for the Saharawi people within Rabat's sovereignty.

This move outraged the Polisario Front, the self-proclaimed government-in-exile of the Saharawi people, and its historical ally Algeria, both of whom advocate for a fully independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in the province.

Algiers responded swiftly to what it perceived as a "direct contribution to the deterioration of the situation in Western Sahara and the region" by recalling its envoy to Madrid and suspending the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation signed 20 years earlier with Spain.

While it is still early to declare the end of the diplomatic crisis that has sabotaged political and trade relations between the two countries, the appointment of a new envoy by Algiers is seen as a "significant first step," according to a source from the Spanish government quoted by local media.

However, progress between the two states has been uneven. Tensions flare whenever Madrid officials reiterate their support for Morocco's plan in the disputed Western Sahara territory.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares was scheduled to visit Algeria in February to signal an end to the dispute. However, the visit was cancelled after Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reaffirmed support for the Moroccan autonomy initiative during his visit to Rabat.

Nevertheless, Spain's Albares insisted that his visit to Algeria was merely postponed due to 'scheduling conflicts.'

The diplomatic spat between Madrid and Algiers has blocked Spanish exports and financial transactions, reduced trade flows, increased prices for Algerian gas (transported only via a pipeline linked to Spain), and disrupted repatriations of irregular migrants.