Spain's King Felipe VI met today with Saudi King Salman, official media said, during a visit coinciding with talks to sell Spanish warships.
Felipe, 48, was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by Salman, 81, who decorated him with the cordon of King Abdul Aziz, the highest Saudi honour for a foreigner, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Later they discussed relations between the two friendly nations and how to further develop them "in various fields", it said.
They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East.
Felipe arrived late yesterday in Riyadh for a three-day stay.
The Spanish foreign ministry said its minister Alfonso Dastis, and Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna, would accompany Felipe during the visit.
Spanish media have linked this trip to a much anticipated deal to sell Avante 2200 corvettes for an estimated two billion euros (USD 2.1 billion).
"We can only confirm that negotiations are very advanced to build five warships which would be sold to the Saudi navy," a spokesman for state-owned Spanish ship builder Navantia told AFP.
Spain is the seventh largest arms exporter in the world, and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of military gear.
This year's Saudi budget allocates 191 billion riyals (USD 51 billion) for military spending including equipment and weaponry, down from 205 billion riyals spent in 2016.
A separate budget allocation of 97 billion riyals is to pay for new naval bases for the Border Guards, and other security projects.
Rights groups have said any Spanish sale of warships to Saudi Arabia would be illegal under international law.
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