Spain's King Juan Carlos has met with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Santiago. The 74-year-old King is visiting Chile as part of a trade delegation.

It is his first major trip since he fell and broke a hip on an elephant-hunting trip in April. The monarch's Latin America tour is seen as an attempt to recover some of the respect he lost after the mishap caused outrage in Spain.

Spain is suffering from a deep economic crisis and crushing unemployment. King Juan Carlos said the problem of Europe is not an economic problem, it is a political one. Pinera said that Spanish investments will be respected in the South American country. The delegation earlier visited Brazil and King Juan Carlos will next attend a regional summit in northern Chile.