Catalonia's leader has called for dialogue with Spain and a meeting with the country's prime minister, complying with a Monday deadline to respond to a request from the central government to state explicitly whether he had declared independence.

Spain’s El Mundo newspaper has called on Queen Letizia to explain leaked text messages that show her supporting a prominent business executive caught up in a scandal involving alleged corporate credit-card abuse.

About 1.6 million people in Spain’s north-eastern region of Catalonia say they want to break away from the country and carve out a new Mediterranean nation.

Investigators probing the Spanish rail disaster are focusing on the key question of why the train was going so fast.

Ryanair’s safety record is coming under scrutiny by both Spanish and Irish officials with the European Commission offering to intervene if needed.