Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Tuesday he had a "reasonable hope" that Madrid will be chosen to host the 2016 Games as experts from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) began inspecting the city's bid.

Madrid has 77 percent of the needed infrastructure already completed and Spain already hosted a successful edition of the Games in Barcelona in 1992, he told reporters after addressing the IOC delegation behind closed doors.

"Spain demonstrated as a country that we know how to do things and Madrid 2016 will be another brilliant edition," he said in a reference to the Barcelona Games.

Madrid's solid public transportation system and the fact that all levels of government are solidly behind the bid were also cited by the prime minister as strong points in the city's bid as was the fact that Spanish sports "is shining like never before in its history".

Last year was spectacular for Spanish sports, with the country winning the Euro 2008 football tournament and the Davis Cup tennis tournament, Rafael Nadal winning the French Open and Wimbledon, and Spaniard Carlos Sastre taking the Tour de France cycling race.

To give Madrid's bid added weight, Zapatero took personal charge of the sports portfolio when he reshuffled his cabinet last month.

This is Madrid's second consecutive bid after it also bid for the 2012 Games, which were awarded to London.

The 13-member IOC team, led by Morocco's Olympic 400m hurdles champion Nawal el Moutawakel, arrived in Madrid after already visiting the three other candidate cities: Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.

The delegation will be shown around existing and planned sites for Olympic venues during their stay which wraps up on Friday on hybrid buses that are in line with Madrid's promise to hold a green Games.

It will then produce a technical report that will provide the basis for the IOC when they choose the host city in Copenhagen on October 2.

AFP