Spain will be supporting Malta's bid to host the EU's asylum office because it understands the island's problem with illegal immigration, its foreign affairs minister announced yesterday.

The EU would, in fact, be giving high priority to illegal immigration during the Spanish Presidency, which starts in January 2010, Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaubé said.

The European Asylum Support Office, a new institution proposed by the European Commission, got the green light from member states earlier this year. It will help coordinate asylum between member states and will be a first step towards harmonising different national practices.

Italy and Poland have both already declared their support for Malta's bid to host the agency and other countries also seem set to do so.

"We want to go to concrete terms. Frontex will be given a new role to be more efficient and the Spanish Presidency will be in close contact with Malta, Greece and Cyprus to achieve a new momentum and obtain much better results in immigration," the Spanish minister said.

Six agreements were signed during the state visit of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, which ended yesterday.

The agreements were related to investment promotion, culture and education, and discussions tackled the strengthening of trade relations, the opening of new opportunities for respective local investors and the improvement of tourism between the two countries, even though arrivals from Spain have increased over the past year.

The programme of activities culminated in a farewell ceremony at the newly-refurbished St George's Square in Valletta. Before that, the King met President George Abela at the Grandmaster's Palace and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who later hosted a reception for him at Castille. Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat also called on the monarch at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, albeit a few minutes late.

Among the activities, King Juan Carlos attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in Floriana and visited the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta.