Morocco–Spain relations island for centuries. Diplomatic ties were not restored until January 2003. That July, Morocco complained that Spain lacked neutrality on the Sahara issue when it chaired the United Nations Security Council and, in October, Spain suspended arms sales to Morocco due to the Perejil crisis. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero visited Morocco in April 2004, and King Juan Carlos I visited in January 2005; on both occasions, joint statements called for a negotiated settlement to the Sahara issue—the Moroccan position. However, visits to Ceuta and Melilla by the Spanish prime minister in January 2006 and monarchs in November
Mariano Fernández Bermejo department for suits in Madrid. He is a founding member of the Progressive Union of Public Prosecutors. Bermejo is a member of the Socialist Party. He was appointed justice minister to the cabinet led by prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in a reshuffle on 12 February 2007. He succeeded Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar as justice minister. Bermejo retained his post in a May 2008 reshuffle. He resigned from office on 24 February 2009 due to his alleged intervention to a corruption investigation about a member of the People's Party. Bermejo was replaced by Francisco Caamaño Domínguez in the post.