King and Queen of Spain to visit Malta

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain have accepted Malta's invitation to make a state visit here, the departing Spanish ambassador, Maria Rosa Boceta Ostos told The Sunday Times.

The exact dates and programme of the royal visit remain to be worked out between the two governments, and it is in response to the official visit to Spain last November by President Fenech Adami, accompanied by Foreign Minister Dr Michael Frendo, and a large group of Maltese business leaders.

Looking back on a busy two years in Malta, Ambassador Boceta Ostos sees her tenure as perhaps one of the most rewarding posts of her foreign service career: "I have been very happy in Malta, which feels so much like home, as does Spain to visiting Maltese - since so many families from each country have settled in the other over the centuries"

"I am very satisfied at having achieved my goals of strengthening cultural, political and economic relations between our two countries which have shared much common history for more than 500 years.

"Malta came under the Crown of Aragon in 1282," she explained, "and in 1530 King Carlos I of Spain (Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire) offered the islands to the Knights of Malta - while retaining formal suzerainty - as a base from which to defend Christendom against the Turks. A squadron of Spaniards fought and died in the siege of Fort St Elmo. Two of the Knights' Auberges were for Spaniards (Castille and Aragon) with ten Grand Masters, including the builder of the Cottonera Lines (Cotoner) coming from Spain".

The reopening of the Spanish embassy here at Whitehall Mansions in Ta' Xbiex as well as the return to Villa Macedonia in Balzan which had previously been the official residence, involved an immense amount of work, the ambassador admitted.

"On the political level and in addition to President Fenech Adami's state visit, the Spanish Minister of Justice Juan Fernandez Lopez Aguilar recently visited Malta, holding critically important talks on combating illegal immigration and terrorism in the Mediterranean.

"Close co-operation between our countries, both part of the EU's southern external border, will certainly follow, whether bilaterally or within the EU. I also see Spain and Malta working increasingly closely on the whole range of Mediterranean issues, since both have a unique role as 'bridges' between North and South and are part of the EU's southern 'external frontier'... Malta's geo-strategic situation makes it a perfect platform for promoting Euro-Mediterranean dialogue.

"On the economic side, I was able to promote the negotiation of a double taxation agreement which has been signed and is pending ratification. EU membership has changed the nature of our state-to-state economic relations, since much now happens within the EU framework. There is also increasing interest by Spanish businesses in Malta.

During President Fenech Adami's visit to Madrid, Maltese business leaders accompanying him held meetings with the Spanish industrialists' federation, the Confederacion Española de Empresarios, as well as with Barcelona-based entrepreneurs.

Numerous contacts have continued to develop both at enterprise level and between the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and regional chambers in Spain - in particular those of Andalucia and Galicia - the latter assigning an economist to spend a year at the Malta Chamber studying the Maltese economy. A group from the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Madrid also visited Malta recently.

"Two companies, MEDICHEM and Combinopharm, have established factories here, involving a total investment of over Lm25 million," she continued. "Another company, TAIM (specialised in energy and waste processing) is at present negotiating to invest here, while Helicopteros del Sur have successfully taken over the operation of the air link between Malta and Gozo. The major hotel chain RIU is also starting operations by assuming the management of a hotel in St Paul's Bay."

However, Ambassador Boceta Ostos thinks that the establishment of a Maltese-Spanish chamber of commerce would be premature at this stage.

"A Spanish-Maltese cultural co-operation programme for 2004 to 2008 has also developed well," she added. "There are now exchanges of university teachers and students between the two countries. A successful Spanish film festival at St James' Cavalier last year was followed by a Flamenco festival at the Waterfront, while the great Spanish pianist Enrique Perez de Guzman performed at the Manoel Theatre. Another concert is planned next year."

Last September, the 'falcon' tradition was also revived after a long interval. "When King Carlos I of Spain invited the Knights of Malta to establish themselves here, he asked in return for the annual gift of a Maltese falcon, as a symbol of the continued unity between Malta and Spain. So last autumn a large group of members of the 1,000-year-old Royal Falconry Guild of Spain travelled here for a colourful ceremony in Vittoriosa's main square - although due to the disappearance of the species from Malta, the falcon in question actually came from Spain.

"Another group will visit Malta this summer - the members of the newly established Asociacion de Amigos de Malta (Association of the Friends of Malta) - to attend the inauguration of a very interesting exhibition at the National Library of Spanish codices and facsimiles of historic documents relevant to the shared history of the two countries. They will include the document in which King Carlos I grants the right of establishment on the islands to the Knights of Malta. This exhibition is part of a broader activity which I have launched to build contacts between libraries and archives in Malta and Spain."

While most of Ambassador Boceta Ostos' professional career - she was the first woman to enter the Spanish diplomatic service - has focused on multilateral affairs, especially EU, NATO and the United Nations, her posting as ambassador to the Ivory Coast emerged as a life-changing experience. "Living and operating conditions were very hard, because of the civil war. I not only saw the reality of developing countries, but also spent 20 challenging days negotiating with guerilla fighters for the liberation of five Spanish friars held hostages.

"As I have now been promoted to full ambassador, I plan to return to Africa, probably to Sierra Leone, in a private capacity. My idea is to take part in the activities of one of the NGOs set up there with Spanish aid funds whose activities focus on looking after children who have suffered in the civil war."