A lottery has spread €560m among ticket-holders in Spain, which is struggling to emerge from a financial crisis that has left it saddled with high unemployment.

A man who was acting out the role of one of the Three Kings in an Epiphany parade has died after the throne he was riding in hit an overhead cable and overturned in southern Spain, officials said.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed his “extraordinary” team after they set a new Spanish record of 19 straight victories with Tuesday’s 4-0 triumph over Ludogorets Razgrad.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti will switch his focus to improving Real Madrid’s defence after seeing his attack click into gear in stunning fashion over the last week.

Ryanair has ordered an inquiry into how six holidaymakers were allowed to board the wrong flight at East Midlands Airport in England.

Keeper Keiren Westwood is the latest man to leave Sunderland as head coach Gus Poyet re-shapes his squad.

Something most unusual is happening in Spain. There are signs that La Liga could turn into a genuine competition.

More than 20m visitors have passed through Ireland’s busiest airport this year — the first time the landmark level has been reached since 2009.

Bayern Munich 2 Manchester City 3

“Barcelona on a roll...

Ryanair has been accused of snubbing Cork Airport during its one million passenger growth strategy triggered by the scrapping of the €3 travel tax in the budget.

Ryanair is to open nine new routes from Dublin and increase frequencies on eight existing routes, the airline announced today.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta concedes losing Lionel Messi for tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Celtic is a blow but has pointed out the Catalan giants are no one-man team.

Barcelona defender Adriano is keeping his fingers crossed the injury Lionel Messi picked up during their record-breaking 2-0 win at Almeria is nothing serious, admitting the Spanish champions are a different proposition with the Argentina ace in their line-up.

Football superstar Lionel Messi and his father have appeared before a Spanish judge to answer questions in a multimillion-euro tax fraud case.

Emma Gallivan has come to appreciate Rob Heffernan’s idiosyncrasies, so much so that his wise-cracking prior to yesterday’s event didn’t surprise her in the least.

Brighton 2 Arsenal 3

Seven people have been killed and more then 600 have been evacuated from their homes after flash floods swept through southern Spain yesterday.

Two wildfires in the south of Spain have forced the evacuation of around 1,000 residents, making this the worst summer in a decade for countryside being devoured by flames, authorities said.

Atletico Madrid 4 Valencia 2

IRELAND’S remaining commercial vegetable growers have gained support from an unexpected but potentially powerful source.

THE Champions League group stage has become such a formality for English clubs in the past few years that it comes as shock to realise Arsenal could be the only English club left in the competition by Thursday morning.

Wigan have opened contract talks with youngster Victor Moses and several other leading players.

Wigan have signed Almeria winger Albert Crusat on an initial two-year deal, the club have confirmed.

ONCE upon a time, Spain’s Costa del Sol was a simple string of fishing villages.

Rangers have confirmed the signing of Spanish midfielder Juan Manuel Ortiz from Almeria for an undisclosed fee.

SPANISH police arrested three suspected members of the so-called “Anonymous” group yesterday on charges of cyber attacks against targets including Sony’s PlayStation store, governments, businesses and banks.

Two new deaths linked to a mysterious bacterial outbreak in Europe blamed on tainted vegetables were reported today, including the first outside Germany, as the number of people falling ill continued to rise.

GERMANY has warned that the source of an outbreak of bacteria poisoning blamed for 10 deaths and hundreds of people falling ill, some in other countries, has yet to be pinpointed.

Cucumbers could be the cause of a major E.coli outbreak which has killed two people, officials in Germany have said, and recommended that Germans cut cucumbers from their diet for now.

Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill looks at the case of one Irishwoman fighting for thousands of homeowners.

HERE are two with views, in Cobh, overlooking Cork harbour and all its glories.

Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini hailed his side’s spirit and mental strength as they closed the gap on Primera Division leaders Barcelona to one point with a 2-0 home win over third-placed Valencia.

BARCELONA’S Lionel Messi has ended David Beckham’s two-year reign as the best-paid soccer player, France Football magazine reported, citing its annual rich list.

IF there is one thing that captures the Spanish soul for us foreigners it’s flamenco.

DEADLY summer wild fires spread across Spain, France, Italy and Greece on Friday with holidaymakers rescued from beaches and thousands of firefighters brought into the battle.

The agent of Fiorentina midfielder Felipe Melo claims the Brazil international has no intention of leaving the club this summer.

GOLF legend Seve Ballesteros has made an emotional first public appearance since undergoing four brain operations.

VILLARREAL midfielder Robert Pires is looking forward to getting the chance to say a proper goodbye to the Arsenal fans when he takes on his old club in the quarter-finals of the Champions League tonight.

UNDER fire Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster had few complaints about his side’s 3-1 defeat by Getafe on Saturday, admitting he felt from early on it was not going to be their night.

Spain got tough with striking truckers who disrupted food and fuel supplies, deploying riot police to lift blockades of a border crossing with France and a major highway outside Madrid, and making dozens of arrests.

Spain got tough today with striking truckers who have disrupted food and fuel supplies, deploying riot police to lift blockades of a border crossing with France and a major highway outside Madrid, and making dozens of arrests.