MADRID, Spain (AP) – American Secretary of State Rice’s one-day jaunt to Spain on Friday is meant to smooth over a three-year downturn in relations between Washington and Madrid, but both sides say they won’t shy away from sensitive issues, foremost among them Cuba.

Even before she landed, Ms. Rice blasted a decision by her Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos, to snub Cuban dissidents on a recent visit to Havana, saying it was clear America and Spain do not “see eye-to-eye” on what to do about Fidel Castro’s regime.

“The Cubans deserve better and I think we will talk about that,” she said Tuesday.

For its part, Spain has been downplaying Ms. Rice’s visit, indicating leftist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was far more focused on meetings this week and next with new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Japanese foreign minister. His office said his face-to-face with Ms. Rice would be brief, and characterized it as a “courtesy call.”

But the Spanish leader has also said he would be glad to discuss Cuba, and hoped his explanation could assuage American concerns.

“Countries and governments don’t have to have equal visions on every aspect of international policy,” Mr. Zapatero said earlier this week. “But it is positive that we are talking about it. Surely, when we talk our positions will become more understandable.”

Ms. Rice was scheduled to arrive just after midday, meeting with Spanish King Juan Carlos before talks and a working lunch with Moratinos, the foreign minister. She planned to meet with Mr. Zapatero in the afternoon, followed by the head of Spain’s conservative opposition, before departing. In fact, relations between Mr. Zapatero and Washington were frosty before he took power.

In 2003, as head of the Socialist party then in opposition, Mr. Zapatero declined to join other Spanish officials in standing up when American troops marched past a VIP stand during a parade to mark National Day. The next year, as prime minister, he didn’t even invite the Americans.

That followed Mr. Zapatero’s decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq, which he did a month after taking office in 2004. The war has been deeply unpopular here, particularly after a terror attack by Islamic militants that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains. The militants said they targeted Spain because of its participation in the peacekeeping force in Iraq.

Despite these fissures, Spanish and American officials say relations have never been as bad as the media has made them out, and point to frequent ministerial level contacts between the two countries. Trade figures show the political chill has not extended to business.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Zapatero told The Associated Press that Spain and America share the same goal for Cuba, and only disagree on how to get there.

“On what is essential for Cuba we agree – to achieve democracy – but we differ on strategies,” she said on customary condition of anonymity.