Address to Parliament; State Visit King and Queen of Spain Feb 17, 2009

ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT

BY THE PRIME MINISTER

HON. BRUCE GOLDING

ON THE OCCASION

OF THE STATE VISIT OF THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009

MR. PRESIDENT,

MR. SPEAKER,

YOUR MAJESTIES,

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT:

We welcome Your Majesties to Jamaica, an island described by Christopher Columbus on his arrival in 1494 as "the fairest isle mine eyes ever beheld".

We welcome you to this special joint sitting of our Parliament.

Your visit is historic as, although Jamaica was under Spanish rule for more than 160 years, yours is the first ever visit by the Crown of Spain.

The period of Spanish rule of Jamaica ended more than 350 years ago but it is memorialized in the place names and architecture of many of our towns and villages that were established during that period.  Spain remains an indelible part of our history.

Spain and Jamaica have enjoyed constructive, engaged and mutually supportive relations for many years.  Diplomatic relations were formally established in 1966, four years after our independence.  In more recent times, Jamaica has benefitted immensely from assistance provided by the Spanish government and significant investment by Spanish investors.

We are grateful to the government of Spain for the technical and financial assistance it is providing us in improving agricultural technology, establishing modern food safety procedures, forestry development, Spanish language and hospitality training, the preservation and enhancement of our cultural heritage and the refurbishing of the Spanish Town Hospital which Your Majesties will visit tomorrow.