Madar (Nouakchott) - President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, received Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez at the presidential palace in Nouakchott, according to the presidency's media office and the Mauritanian News Agency, which gave no details of the talks.
The meeting was attended by the minister in charge of the president's office, El Nany Ould Chrougha, Interior and Decentralisation Minister Mokhtar Ould Ahmed Bousseif and presidential adviser Haroun Traore, the agency said.
The audience was part of a one-day official visit during which the Spanish minister held talks with Fisheries and Maritime and Port Infrastructure Minister Aissata Lam on maritime surveillance and the fight against irregular migration, praising the role of the Mauritanian coast guard.
Grande-Marlaska met President Ghazouani in October 2023 during a visit with the European Commission vice-president, calling Mauritania a "strategic partner"; in November 2022 he signed a security cooperation agreement with Mauritania's then interior minister.
The visit comes amid renewed pressure on the Atlantic migration route to the Canary Islands. Read also: Marlaska in Nouakchott, migration and maritime security top a visit reaching beyond the interior ministry.
