Saudi crown prince arrives in Spain on last stop of global tour

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has arrived in Madrid for his first official visit to Spain. 

The Crown Prince left France on Wednesday after a three-day official visit and arrived at Torrejon's military airbase in Torrejon de Ardoz, close to the Spanish capital Madrid. 

Spain's defense minister, Maria Dolores Cospedal, received Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Torrejon de Ardoz. Cospedal was representing Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis who is accompanying Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on an official visit to Argentina.

Prince Mohammed is scheduled to meet with Spain's King Felipe VI, who acceded to the throne in 2014, on Thursday morning before holding talks later in the day with Rajoy. But King Felipe VI will also host a private dinner in honor of his Saudi guest Wednesday.  

During his short visit, Spain and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign five memorandums of understanding in the areas of culture, science, employment, air transport and defense, a Spanish foreign ministry source said.

Top-selling daily newspaper El Pais reported earlier this week that Spain would likely make progress during his visit on a deal to sell five warships to Saudi Arabia for around two billion euros.

The Saudi prince's trip to Spain comes hot on the heels of a three-day official visit to France and after a tour lasting several weeks of the United States, Britain and Egypt, where he signed multimillion-dollar deals.