Cuba on Thursday restored normal diplomatic relations with Spain that soured last year when the European Union began inviting dissidents to its National Day receptions. The EU policy of asking political opponents to the diplomatic cocktails in response to a crackdown on dissent so annoyed the Cuban government that it shut its doors to European diplomats. While relations were not severed, EU ambassadors have been shunned and telephone calls not returned. Spain's new Socialist government, keen to cool the dispute, has spearheaded a review of that policy, saying it has led to a dead-end in relations with its former colony. "As a result of this process, we are restoring official contacts with the Spanish ambassador in Havana," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said as he received Madrid's envoy, Carlos Alonso Zaldivar. Perez Roque praised the Spanish government, in particular Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, for its efforts to improve relations with Cuba. Representatives of the EU's 25 member states agreed in Brussels on Nov. 16 to rethink the practice of inviting Cuban dissidents to the diplomatic receptions at Spain's request. EU ambassadors in Havana have been asked to come up with proposals to end the dispute while at the same time maintain the recognition given to the dissidents, European diplomats said. --More 2317 Local Time 2017 GMT