Call me a snob; I can't help it, I am an unabashed royal watcher. And this sounded like such fun.

Kevin Rudd's flair for languages isn't limited to Mandarin.

The prime minister impressed visiting Spaniards when he used their native tongue to welcome the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, and his wife Queen Sofia to Australia at a reception at Parliament House on Wednesday.

The Spanish royals were on their first state visit since the Australian bicentenary in 1988.

They arrived in Canberra on Wednesday morning, part of a three-day visit to the national capital and Sydney.

Mr Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull paid tribute to the shared values of Australia and Spain as modern democracies.

They thanked the King and Queen for the contribution their homeland had made to one of Australia's iconic industries - sheep farming.

Prized Spanish Merinos arrived in Australia via South Africa about 20 years after European settlement.

Mr Rudd and Mr Turnbull will both have an official audience with the royals at Government House on Thursday.

The King and Queen will then fly to Sydney, where they will open the Instituto Cervantes, a Spanish government cultural institution.