After a bruising encounter with the music industry, Cork soulster Brian Deady retreated to a cave-house in Andalusia to recover and create. The result is a superb new album, writes Ed Power.

Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium could be temporarily closed if supporters are found guilty of using insulting chants about Spain, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has warned.

Geoff Power reports on his journey through the lesser travelled region of Extremadura in western Spain.

Sevilla 2 Leicester 1: Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel kept Leicester’s Champions League hopes alive as they escaped from Sevilla still eyeing the quarter-finals.

She was buffeted as much as buffed, but Esther N McCarthy‘s skin is glowing after a spa break in Spain with her godmother.

Londoner Joanne Connor may sell her holiday home in southern Spain as a falling currency drives up the cost in pounds of her household bills and mortgage payments following the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Salt, Victoria Road, Cork, 021 2390430  

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy raised his government’s forecast for economic growth in the euro region’s fourth-largest economy as consumer spending accelerates.

Tony Clayton-Lea explores the most romantic destinations to wine and dine your beloved and (re)ignite the passions.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Madrid today in a show of strength by a fledgling radical leftist party, which hopes to emulate the success of Greece’s Syriza party in the Spanish general election later this year.

There’s good news from Portugal. 

THE mere mention of Finca Buenvino creates a ripple of happiness and joy among those of us who have already discovered this hidden gem nestled amidst the sweet chestnut trees and cork oaks of the Sierra de Aracena in Andalusia.

TOUR de France cyclists exploit the slipstreams of their competitors in ‘le peloton’.

West Brom have confirmed Pepe Mel as their new head coach on an 18-month contract.

A planned cross-border protest ride by Spanish bikers will be blocked from entering Gibraltar, police have said.

Village stays blue to beat the blues

THE news from Syria is so dreadful, you must forgive me for mentioning something trivial; reports this week say only one bald ibis has returned to Palmyra, the site of the country’s only breeding colony.

TASTING and assessing wine is by no means an exact science.

Ellen Kent has resumed her multiple roles as promoter, artistic director and producer of operas.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy secured backing for his austerity drive in a vote in his home region of Galicia yesterday, but a clear win for nationalist parties in the Basque Country could prove a headache for central government.

Winter is settling in, but that doesn’t mean you have to... just yet, at least.

The mayor of a small Spanish town who admitted taking part in Robin Hood-style looting of supermarkets today joined a protest march calling for more government aid for the unemployed.

It was a night of doubles at tonight's 'Strictly Come Dancing' semi-final - two dances for each contestant, twice the effort, and two dancers who got full marks for the first time this series.

HIS name is Ballesteros.

Jonathan deBurca Butler gets a whistle-stop taste of a confident, vibrant, lived-in city with the ‘swagger of a matador ‘, before moving on to devour delightful Toledo, Seville and Cordoba

German authorities investigating the outbreak of a deadly bacterial infection are now reportedly doubting whether Spanish cucumbers were the cause.

AN E COLI outbreak linked to contaminated cucumbers that has killed 14 people and made more than 300 seriously ill in Germany has spread to other north European countries and is expected to worsen in the coming week.

A girl of 10 has had a baby in southern Spain.

US first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha went for lunch with Spain’s king and queen at the royal family’s holiday retreat on the resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.

Spain’s Catalonia region outlawed bullfighting today, becoming the country’s first mainland region to do so after a heated debate that put animal rights against the idea of preserving a pillar of traditional culture.

Spain’s government defended a plan to fight soaring unemployment by shutting the door on foreign workers, fending off criticism that the idea is mean-spirited and futile.

Ruling Socialists and opposition conservatives in Spain fought to a virtual tie in local elections, highlighting deep divisions in a country torn over its Basque conflict, terrorism and other issues.

Spaniards voted today in local and regional elections following an acrimonious campaign centring on major issues such as terrorism and the Basque conflict.

Newcastle were back in the market for a manager today as chairman Freddy Shepherd looked for Glenn Roeder’s successor.

The Football Association have cleared Tottenham of blame following the FA Cup replay against Chelsea when a fan aimed a punch at Frank Lampard.

MEET the oldest mother of newborns in the world — Maria Del Carmen Bousada De Lara.

Catalonia gained sweeping powers to run its affairs after voters overwhelmingly approved a new blueprint for the region.

Heavy snow is blocking motorways and several major roads in Portugal and Spain.

Spanish police arrested 15 people today suspected of recruiting people for Iraq’s insurgency, including possible suicide attacks, breaking up a cell in close contact with al-Qaida and terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, officials said.

Spanish police today said they had arrested 14 people on suspicion of recruiting and indoctrinating fighters for Iraq’s insurgency.