Bank bailout pushed up shortfall to EU-topping 10.6 percent of GDP while minister predicts economy could contract by 1.5 percent in 2013. Portugal also looking for some leeway in meeting target

Lagarde: Spain needs more time to cut public deficit

CUTBACKS

Rajoy warns of fresh cuts in “some budget items”

El País Madrid

No plans to raise VAT or the minimum wage, says PM

Recession eases in first quarter, Bank of Spain says

Andrew Sim Madrid

GDP contracted 0.5 percent from previous three months after decline of 0.8 percent in the final quarter of 2012

Argentinean lawyers want former Franco ministers to face charges

EFE Madrid

Buenos Aires judge will hear testimony from Civil War victims in Spain

Portugal

Speculative derivative contracts leave €3bn hole in finances

Antonio Jiménez Barca Lisbon 1

Two secretaries of state dismissed after discovery

Portugal announces spending cuts of 800 million euros

Police arrest Nou Mediouni in Zaragoza on Tuesday. / Javier Cebollada (EFE)

Two men arrested on terrorism charges in Zaragoza and Murcia

Fernando J. Pérez / Jesús Duva Madrid

Police believe Algerian and Moroccan had links to Al Qaeda

PP agrees cooperation deal with Chinese Communist Party

Francesco Manetto Madrid 1

The conservatives and Beijing’s government grouping sign “memorandum for understanding and exchange”

EVICTIONS CRISIS

Canary Islands join Andalusia in expropriation plan for empty homes

Pedro Murillo Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Companies will be forced to put up vacant properties for rental

Banks in Catalonia will face taxes for holding empty homes

El País Madrid

Move comes in wake of Andalusia's similar effort to solve the nation's housing crisis

Andalusia may embargo some family homes subject to eviction orders

Top judges to seek accord on defunct mortgage law

Mónica Ceberio Belaza Madrid

EU court shot down Spain's "unfair" existing legislation

PP enrages Mortgage Platform after ditching measures from legislation

No action over German royal's claim to have spied for Spain

Francesco Manetto Madrid

The king's personal friend Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein said she carried out "classified" work

POLITICAL CRISIS

The secretary of the Socialist parliamentary group Eduardo Madina speaks to reporters at party headquarters in Madrid on Tuesday. / Fernando Alvarado (EFE)

Galician Socialists defy central party with plans for primaries

El País Santiago de Compostela

PSdeG leader Pachi Vázquez says system gives greater voice to the grassroots

PP'S HIDDEN FINANCES

PP alleged to have used ghost firms to funnel donations in 1980s

Francisco Mercado Madrid

Five ex-officials confirm details outlined in ex-treasurer’s documents

Popular Party paid Aznar bonuses as entertainment allowances

María Fernández / Fernando J. Pérez

Monthly payments also made to other top PP officials were subject to tax

Bárcenas ‘cleaned up’ illegal PP donations in official accounts

Supreme Court annuls first mass lay-off plan since labor reform

El País Madrid

Tribunal rules company failed to demonstrate economic reasons for sackings and did not negotiate in good faith

Securities supervisor files insider-trading report on Pescanova boss

Íñigo de Barrón Madrid

CNMV pursuing other possible offenses by chairman of seafood-processing firm

An Apple Store in Chicago. / John Gress (REUTERS)

Apple, 10 problems and a single solution

Javier Martín Madrid 1

Tim Cook takes the technology empire into a price war, an unthinkable notion under Steve Jobs

The new headache of informing the taxman of overseas assets

Jesús Sérvulo González Madrid 2

Spanish residents have until the end of this month to declare holdings

HSBC WHISTLEBLOWER

Falciani’s list includes tycoons, ex-soccer player and doping doctor

El País Madrid

Spanish prosecutors file scores of tax evasion cases based on documents taken from HSBC

“The US told me I was in danger and that Spain would be safe”

Manuel Altozano Madrid

Former HSBC employee said "everything was carefully planned" for his escape

Javier Bardem teams up with the Robert F. Kennedy Center

El País / Flor Gragera de León Madrid

Actor joins Speak Truth to Power initiative in support of Sahrawi people

rising Poverty

Andalusia to guarantee three meals a day for poor schoolchildren

Manuel Planelles Seville 1

Socialist-led regional administration includes help for seniors in 16-million-euro "food solidarity" budget for 2013

GAMING LAWS

Bingo winners should keep a receipt and declare their winnings to the tax authorities, like with all games of chance. / CARLES RIBAS (EL PAÍS)

"Impossible to implement"

Flor Gragera de León / Cristina Delgado

The gambling industry says that new Kafkaesque rules for declaring winnings to the taxman are unworkable

FINANCE

Bankia has 300,000 clients locked into hybrid products

Íñigo de Barrón

Arbitration process for bank customers to take six months

Holders of Bankia hybrid instruments take huge hit

El País Madrid 1

Investors face losses of up to 70 percent as Orderly Bank Restructuring Fund unveils sharply discounted prices for preferred shares

Union calls for swap of Bankia preferred shares to be halted

PROPERTY MARKET

Real estate investment trusts come to the fore as property crisis persists

Lluís Pellicer

Tax advantages of Spanish REITs expected to attract interest of investors

The Wedding Banquet (1623) by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625).

Prado leak damages Brueghel

Borja Hermoso

An 1623 painting by the Flemish artist was among 10 works affected by dripping water in the storerooms

PUBLIC FINANCES

Andalusia is the region with the most indebted town and city halls

Jesús Sérvulo González Madrid

Madrid’s debt jumped last year as it borrowed to settle suppliers’ bills

A young deer dead from hunger in the Pyrenees. / AGENTES RURALES

Pyrenees deer population reduced by a quarter after winter snowfall

David García Vázquez Barcelona

Six meters of snow were recorded in the higher mountain areas during January and February

Marcelo Gurruchaga, pictured with his wife, who may have died during a liposuction procedure carried out by the Alicante vet.

The grisly tale of the Alicante vet who cremated his own wife

Joaquín Gil 1

Marcelo Gurruchaga is suspected of murder, but with no body that is hard to prove

VENEZUELAN ELECTION

Spain draws line under diplomatic spat with Venezuela over recount

Miguel González / El País Madrid

Foreign Ministry statement recognizes Maduro as winner of controversial presidential election, ahead of joint EU declaration

Más información

Real hopes two comes before 10

Madrid must reverse formidable German record to gain foothold in semifinal clash

Real Madrid's Mourinho gestures during a training session in Dortmund April 23, 2013. / INA FASSBENDER (REUTERS)

SOCIAL NETWORKS

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LATIN AMERICA

Peña Nieto forced to halt Pact for Mexico reform process

S. Camarena / J. D. Quesada Mexico City

PAN threatens to break consensus due to vote-buying scandal

Pemex seeks Asian alliances

Juan Diego Quesada Mexico City

Mexico wants to stop relying on the US as its major oil customer

Mexico’s states struggle with soaring debts

Lack of transparency and loan corruption threaten growth and development

Maduro appoints intelligence head as interior minister

Move by Venezuelan president seen as attempt to keep opposition under control

Colorado Party retakes power in Paraguay

Tobacco magnate swept into office following campaign filled with criminal allegations

Clarín wins new round in Argentina media law battle

Alejandro Rebossio Buenos Aires

Government announces it will appeal ruling with Supreme Court

Cash-laundering charge mires president

Martin Delfín Madrid

Journalist claims Kirchner couple hid some $55 million

FEATURES

RETAIL INDUSTRY

Inditex fabrics sewn in Pakistan. / BLOOMBERG

How Inditex rules the weaves, and plans to carry on doing so

Charo Nogueira

The Galicia-based firm behind the Zara brand combines a complex global supply system with the sharp commercial instincts of a successful local business

CINEMA

An original-version movie being projected in one of Alta Films' Renoir cinemas. / LUIS SEVILLANO (EL PAÍS)

Is there an audience left for independent film in Spain?

Rosario G. Gómez / Rocío García

The demise of distributor Alta Films will mean considerably less choice for moviegoers, with Hollywood taking an ever-larger share of the market

The end of Alta Films?

ABORTION

Rift grows in Spanish Catholic Church over “right to life” debate

Juan G. Bedoya

As bishops lobby the government over hard-to-repeal Socialist legislation covering terminations, other members of the clergy point out that “what is a sin for some should not become a crime for others”

the sex trade

A sex worker waits for clients in a brothel in Girona. / PERE DURAN (EL PAÍS)

Prisoners of the brothel

Jerónimo Andreu

Of the thousands of women who are trafficked into virtual slavery, only a fortunate few manage to find a way back to normal society

COAST UNDER THREAT

New fears for Spain’s shoreline

Juana Viúdez Madrid

Amendments planned by the Popular Party government for legislation protecting coastal areas could pave the way for further construction, say environmentalists

PP government paves way for Coast Law amnesty

soccer's burst bubble

The debt of Liga clubs with the tax agency alone stands at 690 million euros. / TOMÁS ONDARRA (EL PAÍS)

"A diabolical business"

Rafael Méndez

The administrators tasked with bringing football clubs' rampant overspending to heel speak about what is to be found in the sordid underbelly of La Liga

FEATURES