Spanish Crown Prince Filipe de Bourbon and his wife Princess Letizia Ortiz started a 24-hour visit to Israel Monday by meeting President Shimon Peres.
The visit, to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Spain and Israel, comes six weeks after Peres’s visit to Spain.
The royal coupe was greeted by the president accompanied by chidren who have made their aliyah (immigration) from Spain.
"Israel welcomes you and hopes that your historic visit will help strengthen economic, scientific, technological, educational and cultural ties between Spain and Israel," Peres told the prince.
"I would like to thank your father, the King of Spain and Queen Sophia, for the warm welcome I received in Spain. King Juan Carlos bravely succeeded to lead Spain to democracy after Franco, strengthening Spain and turning it into an open, peace-loving country," he added.
The Israeli president hosted Monday night a state dinner for the Spanish royal couple.
Prince Filipe and Princess Letizia visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem and attended a reception at Tel Aviv University where he met with young scientific researchers who presented some of their findings.
On Tuesday, they have a working breakfast with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before travelling to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
They will later depart for Jordan, where they will attend a state dinner hosted King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.
The prince's parents, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, visited Israel in 1993.
Later this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several cabinet members will visit Spain to meet in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and government members.
Netanyahu’s father, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, who turned 101 on March 25, is a world expert on the golden age of the Jewish history of Spain.