The thief, whose identity remains unknown, broke into a house in Jaén city and escaped with several electrical items. He later told police about the filmed abuse of children he discovered

Madrid premier’s wife named in tax-fraud, money-laundering case

Fernando J. Pérez / José Marcos Madrid

Investigation focuses on their ownership of a luxury penthouse on the Mediterranean. González comes out in defense of the innocence of his spouse

THE CATALAN QUESTION

Mas alludes to slavery in context of Catalan sovereignty

Àngels Piñol / Miguel Noguer Barcelona / Madrid

Regional premier ramps up rhetoric as PP and Socialists maintain stance on referendum

SOCCER

Andrés Iniesta extends Barça contract until 2018

El País Barcelona

World Cup hero ends speculation over a possible winter transfer window move to the Premier League

royal scandal

Prosecutor claims Urdangarin judge is biased against princess

Andreu Manresa Palma de Mallorca 1

"You cannot implicate or punish anyone for what he is but for what he has done," says writ

CATALAN INDEPENDENCE DRIVE

Prime minister rules out new meeting with Mas on referendum for region

Carlos E. Cué Madrid

Rajoy states that he has already “made his position clear”

Catalan PP may challenge budget

Agencies Barcelona

Premier’s draft spending plan includes funds to hold controversial referendum

Police and politicians in front of the Alcalá 20 nightclub on the morning of the tragedy, which left 81 dead. / RAÚL CANCIO

“It’s been 30 horrible years. Every day I remember what happened”

F. Javier Barroso Madrid

Three decades on, victims of the Alcalá 20 nightclub fire want to forget

MARKETS

Bourses buoyed by the Fed’s monetary policy move

Agencies Madrid

Ibex 35 up over two percent as Spanish Treasury enjoys smooth last bond auction of 2013

EMPLOYMENT

OECD calls on Spain to make layoffs even cheaper

Cristina Galindo / AGENCIES Madrid

Organization recommends courts only nullify collective dismissals in “extreme cases”

BANK MERGER

Banesco wins tender for nationalized NCG Banco

Íñigo de Barrón Madrid

Venezuelan lender offered almost one billion euros for Spanish bank

ECONOMY

Loan defaults rise to highest level in over 50 years

AGENCIES Madrid

Ratio in October was biggest since Bank of Spain began compiling figures half a century ago

SUBMERGED ECONOMY

A Chinese workshop in Mataró, Barcelona that was raided in 2009, in the biggest police operation of its kind. / Gianluca Battista

“You will never see an ad in the paper offering ‘Exploited workers’”

María R. Sahuquillo / Jerónimo Andreu

Police are struggling in the fight against clandestine sweatshop slavery

AEROLÍNEAS CASE

Former employer group chief gets two years in prison for tax fraud

Fernando J. Pérez Madrid

Ex-CEOE chairman Gerardo Díaz Ferrán also ordered to pay 99-million-euro fine in Aerolíneas Argentinas case

EUROVEGAS

The sands run out

José Marcos / Bruno García Gallo Madrid

After five years of negotiations, plans to build a massive casino complex in Madrid have been abandoned. Now the political fallout puts the regional premier's future in doubt

LABOR MARKET

Wages in Spain fall for record four quarters in a row

El País Madrid

Average monthly income now at levels of two years ago as internal devaluation continues

Seville family deaths may be due to toxic infection

El País Seville

Ambulance was called twice to family home after three victims’ conditions worsened dramatically during night

Unemployed couple in Seville die after reported food-poisoning case

Ángeles Lucas / Agencias Seville 1

Husband and wife had been trying to make ends meet by collecting cardboard and recycling paper

POLITICS

Cristina Cifuentes, pictured last week in Madrid. / Uly Martín

After a life-threatening accident, Cristina Cifuentes is back in the fray

Luz Sánchez-Mellado Madrid

Madrid government delegate was out of politics for three months

A computer-generated image supplied by S3 of an Airbus carrying a small spacecraft, which will be able to climb to the edge of space.

Canary Islands chosen as base for low-cost satellite launches

Alicia Rivera San Bartolomé de Tirajana

Swiss company S3 planning to offer flights for space tourists

BANK BAILOUT

Troika gives Spain positive report in last review of bailout terms

Claudi Pérez Brussels

But ECB, EC and IMF point to the need for more reforms

Property market

House prices rise on quarterly basis for first time in three years

El País Madrid

But market still down on an annual basis and experts doubt prices have bottomed out

BUSINESS

Pescanova offers 30 million euros to save Chilean unit from being sold

Agencies

Pesca Chile seen as key subsidiary for Spanish seafood processor, which is in the hands of the receivers

UNIVERSAL JUSTICE

Rajoy government bids to halt Tibet case against Chinese officials

Miguel González Madrid 1

Spain plans to reduce judiciary’s powers in universal justice cases after Beijing warned of damaged relations

Spain fears China crisis over Tibet court case

Going Spanish in one of the classrooms in the Cervantes Institute in Shanghai.

Don Quixote tilts at China

Zigor Aldama Shanghai

Cervantes Institute downsizes premises in Shanghai as the Spanish language fails to attract the number of students expected

EMIGRATION

Destination Duisburg

Juan Gómez Duisburg

Over 50 workers at ThyssenKrupp’s closed Sagunto plant have been relocated to Germany

Public Works Minister Ana Pastor with Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz (r) and French Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier. / Toni Garriga (EFE)

Barcelona and Paris finally get their high-speed rail link

El País Madrid

Journey time between cities of six-and-a-half hours

FINANCIAL FALLOUT

Bankia lawyers call for court to abandon “inquisition”

Agencies Madrid

Judge asks for civil liability policies for lender’s officials

EUROPEAN SOCCER

Former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder Luis Figo plucks the Catalan club out of the tombola at the Uefa draw ceremony on Monday. / FABRICE COFFRINI (AFP)

Old acquaintance thickens plot

Rob Train Madrid

Several reunions await after Champions League and Europa draws while Atlético and Milan will meet for first time

Atlético and Barça take advantage of Real slip in Navarre

El País Madrid

Valencia fires Miroslav Djukic as coach after 3-0 defeat at the Vicente Calderón stadium

ANTI-PROTEST LAW

Minister argues that crackdown on protests will “protect citizens”

El País Barcelona 1

Hundreds gather to demonstrate against regional health cuts

More than two dozen injured as Congress protest turns violent

Lola Hierro Madrid

Around 2,000 demonstrators clash with riot police in demonstration against Citizens Safety Law

BUSINESS

Car sector looks beyond the crisis

Madrid

Spanish factories are increasing output and creating jobs thanks to wage adjustments and labor flexibility

WWII ESPIONAGE

Canfranc railway station on the Spanish-French border, which was an epicenter for Jews fleeing the Nazis.

‘Casablanca’ in the Pyrenees

Gregorio Belinchón Madrid 1

A hub for spies and refugees during the Second World War, Canfranc station is the subject of two new documentaries

Más información

Police search Popular Party national headquarters in Madrid

Court orders task force to confiscate records related to Bárcenas and payments made to architect. Rajoy said his ruling party is awaiting outcome of inquiry “but we are not worried”

Police officers outside PP headquarters on Thursday night. / SAMUEL SÁNCHEZ

“There is a campaign against Spain”

Juan I. Irigoyen / El País Barcelona / Madrid

Real Madrid and Barcelona presidents hit back over allegations engulfing clubs

High Court asks to see Neymar’s contract

Agencies Madrid

Barcelona board member lodges suit against club president Rosell over multi-million deal

“There is no San Mamés case”

Luis Doncel Brussels

EU competition commissioner confirms investigations into seven Liga clubs

Messi charity games investigated for drug link

José Antonio Hernández Madrid

Organized crime officers probe potential money laundering surrounding series of friendly matches in the Americas

SOCIAL NETWORKS

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FEATURES

terrorism

The crater left by the bombing in Claudio Coello street, in central Madrid. / EFE

The day ETA struck a lethal blow to the Franco regime

Luis R. Aizpeolea

Forty years ago this week, the dictator's heir apparent, Carrero Blanco, was assassinated by the Basque terrorist organization

ENVIRONMENT

A Cairn Energy oil platform, located close to the area off the Canary Islands where Repsol wants to prospect. / ÁNGEL MEDINA (EFE)

Fears of oil spills and drilling grip residents of Canary Islands

María Sosa Troya Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

More than 1,100 tankers have passed through the tourism-dependent area so far this year

ENERGY

From the Canaries to the North Sea

Carlos Laorden Zubimendi

Spanish company Gamesa is hoping to carve out a place in the growing offshore electricity sector. Its turbine in Gran Canaria can power 7,500 homes

effects of the crisis

Workers at the entrance of the central hospital laundry in Mejorada del Campo, Madrid. / Álvaro García

Families getting by on half a salary

Susana González Vejo Madrid

Workers at the central hospital laundry in Madrid struggle to survive as the private sector contractor for the service slashes their wages by 46 percent

ENVIRONMENT

Constitutional Court puts the brakes on Castilla y León project

Rafael Méndez Madrid

The Environment City, to be constructed on protected land in Soria, has already cost 52 million euros, leading opposition to decry "wastefulness" of PP assembly

DEMOGRAPHICS

As well as a fall in the number of births in Spain, life expectancy is expected to rise in the next 10 years. / Carles Ribas

Why a drain in Spain will lead to population shrinkage by 2017

Jaime Prats

In five years' time, fewer births and more emigration will mean a lower number of inhabitants. Some 2.6 million people are expected to leave the country over the next decade