From Spain this week comes a topical tale of two convicts currently serving time in His Majesty’s prisons.

Belgian judicial authorities have suspended the arrest warrant targeting Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont because of his immunity as a European lawmaker, his lawyer said.

The past and the present are in a permanent state of war with each other, generally over which is best — and never more so than in football.

With the rise of China and and an introspective US, the continent faces an uncertain future and a vassal status writes Slawomir Sierakowski.

People in Spain have begun voting in the country’s fourth election in as many years.

Catalonia’s separatist leaders have unilaterally breached the constitutional order of Spain, says the country’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez, but there is room for dialogue

Not mixing sport and politics is difficult at the best of times, and impossible when it comes to La Liga’s Clasico, probably the most politicised game in world of football.

It may be time for some heresy. This column feels Kavanagh got it wrong.

The Spanish top flight want the 'El Clasico' match switched to Madrid, with Barcelona then playing at home in March next year.

One of the half-forgotten, or at least half-ignored, truths of our history is that those who took part in the 1916 Rising, especially in Dublin, were excoriated by the majority of their fellow citizens until British authorities decided to execute them, making them martyrs for their cause.

For Ireland, Spain, and Portugal less than a decade ago, investors could barely be compensated enough to hold their bonds for fear they could be severed from the eurozone.

August is almost upon us which spells the beginning of the end of Summer (in my head at least), so I am focusing on wines for the sunshine.

Today is providing a mixed bag on the weather front with many parts of Leinster and Ulster bathed in sunshine but its umbrellas at the ready for southern and western counties.

After seeing housing costs jump by more than 50% in the past five years, officials in Barcelona are moving to introduce Spain’s most aggressive rent controls.

The title is taken from Federica García Lorca’s poem Canción de Jinete and the poet’s work permeates the novel as a motif and it is his unsolved murder which sparks off the plot of this thriller.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has accused rival left-wing parties and Independents of acting like they are part of "the United Nations" instead of trying to help their communities on local councils.

“Goodison is no place to go with a Spanish hangover,” fretted your pessimistic correspondent here last week, although not even I thought the week would turn out quite this badly.

Spanish Wine Week is just finished but I couldn’t help giving over another column to the region’s wines.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ability to inspire Manchester United to a memorable Champions League victory over PSG underlined the Norwegian’s credentials.

Manchester United managed to stifle Lionel Messi, bloodied and bowed after a nasty first-half injury, but their nemesis Luis Suarez played the pivotal part in the only goal of this Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Manchester and Barcelona have an unusual amount in common this week.

Ireland has finally secured a foothold at the summit of European central banking following the appointment of Central Bank governor Philip Lane to the six member executive board of the ECB, as chief economist.

This week I’m focusing on Garnacha/Grenache, arguably the most important grape in France and Spain yet also a grape that is less known than it should be given that it only occasionally appears on wine labels.

Each Real Madrid v Barcelona Clasico is about more than just football, with both superclubs having deep roots within Spanish and Catalan society. But this week’s two Clasicos in four days have even wider resonance than usual, given the current mix of legal and political issues directly and indirectly involving both clubs.

It makes us rage, despair and on some wonderful days, it makes us weep with joy - and now hurling has been granted special cultural status by UNESCO.

It’s the fourth year of the European Broadband Awards, and once again, Ireland doesn’t figure among the five annual winners.

The country’s city and county council leaders should tune in to the debate

Spain international winger Gerard Deulofeu has signed for Watford from Barcelona in a deal worth an initial €13.

It has been billed as the Battle of Britain – or at least England. But tonight’s showdown in Manchester is more than simply a contest to decide the best English side in Europe, or even which of two rival cities has this season’s bragging rights, writes David Shonfield.

Catalonia's former president, Carles Puigdemont, is to appear before a court in Germany to determine whether he stays in custody pending further decisions on extradition proceedings.

Easter is almost upon us and many of us will be preparing traditional roast lamb.

Pep Guardiola has been fined £20,000 for wearing a yellow ribbon on the touchline, the Football Association has announced.

Catalonia's fugitive ex-leader has dropped a political bombshell, unexpectedly announcing that he is temporarily withdrawing his bid to get back his old job as president of Catalonia.

When Catalonia went to the polls eight weeks ago there was a sense among Barcelona fans that this was a defining moment for their club as well as the country.

Fugitive Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has denied he is giving up, following the publication of text messages in which he reportedly said the Spanish government has won the battle in Catalonia.

Your lunchtime news bulletin.

Three backers of Catalonia's independence have sought to secure release from jail for their role in the region's push to break from Spain which triggered the country's worst political crisis in decades.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has refused to be drawn on the future of Philippe Coutinho as speculation about another bid from Barcelona escalates.

Thousands of police reinforcements who were deployed to Catalonia in the run-up to an attempted referendum on the region's independence from Spain in October are being withdrawn.

Here's all you need to know.

World markets gave a muted reception to the passage of US tax cuts, while bonds steadied having been spooked by the expected blowout in government debt needed to fund the giveaways.