“Surfing a blue wave” is how L’Équipe described the mood in France, following Les Bleus triumph against Spain — a triumph that few were expecting given the team’s stuttering performances before and during the first round of matches.

Tens of thousands of people, including victims of ETA bomb attacks, marched through central Madrid in the rain today to press the Socialist government not to negotiate a peace deal with the armed Basque separatist group.

A MASSIVE crowd gathered around Pope John Paul II in the shape of a cross yesterday, as he proclaimed five new saints and urged Spaniards to emulate them.

An estimated one million people have gathered in Spain to see Pope John Paul II proclaim five new Spanish saints.

A large explosion destroyed part of an underground car park in Madrid, damaging scores of vehicles and sending smoke spewing out onto a central square after a military procession passed by it with US marines taking part.