The leader of Spain's secession-minded Catalonia region says he has decided against calling a parliamentary election that might have defused tension with the Spanish government.

A far-left pro-independence party in Catalonia is calling for "mass civil disobedience" in the region.

Spain's King Felipe VI has spoken out forcefully against Catalonia's independence drive, saying all Spaniards must respect each other and the law.

A certain amount of regional autonomy is fine, but Spain must remain one unified country, writes former Spanish minister Ana Palacio.

Here in La Gomera, and throughout Spain, the Burial of the Sardine is over, and the end of Lent is celebrated with ‘Carnaval’, writes Damien Enright

The leader of the Irish who fought against fascism in Spain sent 25 men home fearing more loss of life, records from Russia revealed.

Hosting a global sporting occasion won’t make a country rich, and isn’t even that good for tourism — but it will make its people happy.

Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain’s King Felipe VI, will become the first member of the royal family to stand in the dock after a judge yesterday ordered her to be put on trial on charges of tax fraud.

The Spanish government has filed appeals at the country’s top court to try and halt the powerful north-eastern region of Catalonia from staging an independence referendum.

Most Spaniards want their new king, Felipe, to play a greater role in politics and build bridges between the country’s divided parties and regions, a poll showed yesterday.

Crown Prince Felipe has ascended to the Spanish throne with guests feasting on tapas nibbles washed down with cava, in a budget buffet celebration.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos plans to abdicate and pave the way for his son, Crown Prince Felipe, to become the country’s next king, the nation’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy said today.

Princess Cristina, the younger daughter of Spain’s King Juan Carlos, has been charged with tax fraud and money-laundering, piling further scandal on the once-beloved but increasingly unpopular royal family.

Voters in the economically powerful region of Catalonia have punished the leader who made a referendum over breaking away from Spain a central plank of his campaign, seeing his party’s majority reduced by a dozen seats.

Spain’s conservative government has provoked a storm among women’s groups with plans to tighten abortion laws that make the procedure illegal in cases where the foetus is deformed.

Tomorrow’s clash with Italy is Spain’s third European Championships final.

Avril Flanagan’s killer apologised to her family moments after dramatically confessing in court that he had stabbed his ex-girlfriend nearly 50 times — an attack during which she was conscious the entire time.

The birthplace of democracy has gotten used to turmoil, says Ryle Dwyer

Spain’s government has unveiled a €27bn deficit-reduction package including spending cuts and tax hikes on large companies, as it scrambles to convince the EU and investors that it will not need a bailout.

The Spanish judge known for investigating crimes against humanity took the stand in his own trial, rejecting charges that he had overstepped his jurisdiction by probing right-wing atrocities linked to the Spanish civil war.

Brandishing black and white photographs of dead parents, scores of angry Spaniards rallied to condemn the High Court for putting on trial the judge who tried to inv-estigate their relatives’ fates.

A SPANISH judge who became an international human rights hero by indicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet yesterday denied any wrongdoing as he went on trial over his handling of a domestic corruption probe.

INTERNATIONAL negotiators, including former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, called last night on armed Basque group ETA to declare a definitive end to violence.

Two home-made explosive devices went off today outside the childhood home of Manuel Fraga, the last surviving member of the regime of General Francisco Franco, a Spanish official said.

POPE Benedict denounced economic structures that put profits ahead of people yesterday at the start of a trip to recession-hit Spain where the costs of the pontiff’s visit have sparked violent protests.

Barcelona dwellers gave a lukewarm thumbs-up to the idea of full autonomy from Spain in an informal, non-binding referendum organised by pro-independence activists.

THOUSANDS of babies disappeared over a 40-year period in Spain, stolen from their mothers and handed over for adoption by the state and the Catholic Church.

Spain’s parliament passed an austerity budget for 2011 by a razor-thin margin, saving embattled prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero his job.

Spain’s Parliament passed an austerity budget for 2011 by a razor-thin margin today, saving embattled prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero his job.

POPE Benedict XVI meets Spain’s Facebook generation this weekend — setting up a clash of values and lifestyles in a once-staunchly Catholic nation that has become one of Europe’s most liberal.

More than a million people gathered today in northeastern Barcelona to demand greater regional autonomy for Catalonia and protest a recent court ruling forbidding the region from calling itself a nation.

The Spanish government today approved a plan to ease its abortion law and allow the procedure without restrictions up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, pressing ahead with a sweeping social reform agenda that has irked conservatives and the Catholic church.

CONOR Cruise O’Brien would probably have been proud to think that his passing this week would mark the end of an era.

Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica has been given the all-clear after fears it might be deteriorating.

Spanish voters went to the polls faced with a choice between PM José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy of the right, neither of whom laid out a coherent vision, write Elaine Sciolino and Victoria Burnett.

Planned new lyrics for the Spanish national anthem were ditched today after their content split the country.

THE beatification of 498 Catholics killed during the Spanish Civil War was not politically motivated, the Vatican’s number two said yesterday.

THE Vatican held the biggest Mass beatification in history yesterday, putting nearly 500 Catholics killed during the Spanish civil war on the path to possible sainthood.

Thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square today for the Vatican’s largest beatification ceremony with 498 victims of religious persecution before and during Spain’s civil war being put on the path to possible sainthood.

The former Chilean dictator remained stubbornly opposed to any efforts to bring him to trial, writes Chris Moncrieff.

Spain and the US have reached an agreement to clean up radioactivity in the Spanish farming village of Palomares, on Spain’s south-east tip, 40 years after two US atomic bombs fell in the area after a midair collision.

THE current rumblings within Fianna Fáil and Mary Harney’s hand bagging of MichaelMcDowell this week were reminders that prior to the arrival of Charlie Haughey on the political scene, there were no power struggles in the main political parties within Leinster House.