Madrid - Fifteen Spanish police officers are under investigation on charges of torturing two suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA, press reports said Tuesday.

A Basque court said there was evidence that members of the paramilitary Civil Guard had tortured Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola.

The two were believed to belong to an ETA cell that staged a car bombing at a Madrid airport underground parking lot in December 2006, killing two Ecuadorian immigrants.

Madrid - Many Spanish football fans are in favour of Real Madrid veteran Raul returning to the national team, an online opinion poll taken by sports daily Marca shows.

Of a total of 31,587 votes registered in the poll by Tuesday morning, 68 per cent voted "yes" to the question and 32 per cent voted "no".

Raul, 31, is in excellent form, helping Real to reduce Barca's lead at the top from 12 points to four points in the past three weeks.

He has scored 14 league goals this season, five of them in the last three games.

Madrid - The supporters of Spanish giants Real Madrid are very confident about the chances of their team winning a third straight Liga title.

This is the conclusion to be drawn from online opinion polls taken on Monday by Madrid sports dailies Marca and AS.

57 per cent of the readers of Marca believe that Real will win the league, with only 43 per cent voting for Barcelona, whilst no less than 70 per cent of AS readers have opted for Real.

Madrid - Separatist tendencies were Monday seen as having suffered a major setback in the Basque region, as a party defending Spain's unity appeared set to form a regional government for the first time.

Outgoing Basque Prime Minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which wants to loosen ties with Spain, won Sunday's regional elections, but did not get a sufficient majority to govern in a coalition with its traditional nationalist partners.

Madrid  - Spain's troubled Basque region faced an eventual new era after regional elections on Sunday made it possible for a party advocating national unity to form the regional government for the first time.

The Spanish socialists' good election result was a boost to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, but it was unclear what it might mean for the region beset by separatist pressures.

Basque socialist leader Patxi Lopez pledged to unite the Basques, who are divided over independence, if he becomes regional prime minister.

Madrid  - Real Madrid are now just four points behind Spanish leaders Barcelona after a 2-0 win at lowly Espanyol.

It was Real's 10th consecutive league win, their best run in La Liga since 1963, and it came thanks to second-half goals from veterans Guti and Raul.

"We are now in a privileged situation," Raul said, vowing to "make things difficult" for Barcelona.

Barca - who held a 12-point lead three weeks ago - play Sunday at Atletico Madrid.