A Spanish court will rule today whether all football competitions in the country, including Primera Division games, will be played this weekend.

Leitrim based Benbo Productions recently won the Gold Medal for Best Drama Special for their music-drama serial ’Francisco’ and have dedicated the award to US Army whistle blower Chelsea Manning.

The president of the Spanish Football League (LFP) has dismissed suggestions that Real Madrid’s pursuit of Gareth Bale – which could break the world record transfer fee – is immoral.

THE skies over Leicester in England during our stay were as blue as the skies over La Gomera in the Canary Islands which we had just left.

Spain’s football chief has claimed racism “does not exist” in the Spanish game despite numerous recent incidents.

Three Ryanair flights were carrying enough fuel when they made separate mayday calls in one day in Spain, a report has found.

Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta is not letting criticism of his side’s style of play get under his skin ahead of their Euro 2012 semi-final against Portugal this evening.

London’s leading index was broadly flat today as fears over Europe’s banks were offset by a strong consumer confidence survey on the other side of the Atlantic.

Sangria of the non-alcoholic variety flowed and tapas were the order of the day as girls at a Cork school toasted an award for their Spanish programme.

The Iseq index fell slightly yesterday to close down 4.13 points at 3,176.09.

Greece closed a bond swap offer to private creditors last night after clearing the minimum threshold of acceptance to push the deal through, moving closer to unlocking funds it needs to avoid a dangerous debt default.

MARIO DRAGHI took over as president of the ECB from Jean-Claude Trichet last week. He could not have picked a more difficult time.

ANGELA MERKEL won’t allow the eurozone to split because she understands it could cause “a dark age” by wrecking the markets leading energy policy as oil supplies dwindle, said an adviser to the German chancellor.

The family of a woman killed in Spain said today that they are another step closer to justice after her husband was extradited for her manslaughter.

A statement in the pro-independence newspaper Gara did not mention ETA giving up its weapons, a key Spanish government demand.

SUICIDE attackers detonated three car bombs near embassies in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 42 people and wounding more than 200 in back-to-back bombings.

Allen returns to – nearly – his best form with this romantic comedy that, surely, will please the Spanish Tourist Board … seldom has Barcelona or the Spanish countryside looked more glorious.

UEFA has warned Spain they could be thrown out of Euro 2008, which may open the door for Northern Ireland.

TWO cartoonists who drew Spain’s crown prince having sex with his wife and joking it was the closest thing to real work he had done were each fined €2,840 yesterday.

French police found an arms cache allegedly belonging to the armed Basque separatist group Eta, officials said.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero today said that his government was committed to building a high-speed train line to North Africa in a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar.

Charlton 0 Wycombe 1

The European Union today asked Spain to start charging the Catholic Church sales tax, saying a special exemption breaks EU tax law.

Spain asked the United States in March and again this week if CIA planes carrying terror suspects made stopovers at Spanish airports, and both times the Americans said they had no record of such flights, the government said.

Spanish and Catalan leaders said today that power over collecting taxes is shaping up as their biggest dispute as they digest a divisive proposal to give the north-east region much greater autonomy.

Barcelona have been given a maximum fine of 4,000 euros by the Spanish football association for the failure to keep fans under control during a match against Real Madrid in November 2002.

FIFA yesterday demanded an explanation from the Spanish football federation for the abuse aimed at England’s black players and called for “the scourge of racism” to be eradicated from the game.

SPANISH intelligence agents warned police last November that an Algerian who has been identified as a ringleader of the Madrid train bombings was preparing an attack, a newspaper claimed yesterday.

Forensic scientists were struggling today to analyse body parts from up to four Madrid bombing suspects who blew themselves up as police prepared to storm their apartment.

DOZENS of couples who bought apartments in Spain and claim they were deceived into paying an extra €5,700 on the purchase price will have to sue in the Spanish courts if they are to recover their money.

SPANISH and Italian chocolate lovers will at last be able to taste Irish-made chocolate, thanks to a European Court of Justice decision.

Defending champion Tommy O'Connor of Athenry is joint leader with Gar Golden of Westport Golf Club at the end of the first round of the Connacht Veterans' Amateur Open Championship in Loughrea.

Spain today grabbed back the tiny uninhabited Mediterranean isle no bigger than a soccer pitch that is at the centre of a bitter dispute with Morocco.

An unidentified gunman has shot and killed a Spanish Socialist Party councillor in a bar in the disputed Basque region.

One man has been killed after a bomb attached to a car exploded in San Sebastian in northern Spain.