Madrid  - Spanish leaders Barcelona had to dig deep on Saturday to force a 2-2 away to lowly Betis, for whom goalkeeper Ricardo was the hero.

Barca needed two goals from league top scorer Samuel Eto'o to stretch their unbeaten run to 22 games.

Betis took an early 2-0 lead, with goals from Melli and Mark Gonzalez, but in the end were desperate to hear the final whistle.

"They came close to beating us at the end," said Melli. "They never stopped attacking, and Ricardo had to keep us in the game."

Madrid - Spain striker David Villa told sports daily AS on Friday that "nobody has said to me that Valencia are going to sell me, or put a price tag on me."

Villa conceded that Valencia are heavily in debt and have not paid the salaries of the players since December, but, with regard to a possible sale, said that "it is not logical to talk about something that we don't know for sure is going to happen."

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool are among the major clubs rumoured to be interested in the Euro 2008 top scorer.

Madrid - Tension was mounting in Spain on Wednesday between the socialist government and the main opposition conservative People's Party (PP) after a judge named 37 people suspects in a corruption investigation involving the PP.

PP leader Mariano Rajoy announced his party was breaking off all contacts with Justice Minister Mariano Fernandez Bermejo, and demanded that judge Baltasar Garzon drop his probe.

Rajoy made the comments after the daily El Mundo said Fernandez and Garzon had gone on a hunting expedition together while the judicial investigation was being launched.

Madrid - Arco, one of the world's biggest art fairs, felt the impact of the global economic crisis as it opened for the 28th time Wednesday with a lower number of exhibitors.

The number of exhibitors had gone down from 257 in 2008 to 238, organizers said in the Spanish capital.

About 30 countries are participating in the Arco this year, with the guest country India representing one of Asia's most booming art markets.

The economic crisis had hit art galleries like other sectors, organizers said, also attributing the reduced number of exhibitors to strict selection criteria.

Madrid - Cash-strapped Spanish giants Valencia are casting around for ideas to reduce their massive debts.

"Los Ches", as they are known, are rumoured to be more than 100 million euros (129.27 million dollars) in debt, and are struggling to raise the necessary cash to begin the construction of their new stadium, which they are supposed to move in to in 2010.

According to sports daily Marca on Wednesday, Valencia owe 14 million euros to the construction company, and 15 million to the players and other employees, who have not been paid since December.

Madrid - The militant Basque separatist group ETA may have established a cell in Madrid, Spanish press reports Tuesday quoted police sources as saying.

The cell would be ETA's first based in the capital for about six years.

Evidence of the cell emerged when suspected ETA activists planted a car bomb in a Madrid fair and office neighbourhood on Monday. The blast caused material damage, but no injuries.

The bomb used in the explosion appeared to have been prepared in Madrid, the daily El Mundo said.