MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spanish monarchs begin visit to Argentina.

Spanish monarchs King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia began last night their fourth official visit to Argentina determined to consolidate what Spanish officials describe as the “very good relations” between both countries.

The royal couple is also expected to try to sooth the ongoing disagreements between powerful Spanish companies with investments in vital areas of the Argentine economy and the current Argentine government.

On arrival in Buenos Aires aboard the Spanish Air Force plane the monarchs were welcomed by Argentine Vice President Daniel Scioli and Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa.

The royal delegation includes Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio who will attend the Ibero-American Summit scheduled for Nov. 14-15 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, along with King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

The first official event of the visit will be Wednesday morning when King Juan Carlos will meet with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner in Casa Rosada, Government House. Economic relations between the two countries as well as the plight of Argentine immigrants in Spain, who now number more than 150,000, will likely be included on the agenda.

However besides the official appointments the royal couple will be visiting several of the many Spanish organizations in Argentina. Spanish and Italian migrations, particularly during most of the twentieth century, and their descendants make up most of the Argentine population.

The Kirchner administration is currently at odds with public utilities, most of them privatized in the nineties and many of them Spanish. Companies are demanding rate increases, frozen since January 2002, to compensate for the strong devaluation of the Argentine peso in late 2001 when the Argentine economy collapsed.

The Argentine government claims the privatized services have failed to live up to their contracts and named a committee to review all contracts before considering any hikes.

In a recent brief visit to Europe President Kirchner exchanged strong words with Spanish businessmen with strong investments in Argentina.