Madrid - A Spanish prime minister considered declaring a war against neighbouring Portugal to stem the spread of communism in the final year of General Francisco Franco's 36-year dictatorship, the daily El Pais reported Monday.

Carlos Arias Navarro, Franco's last prime minister, met with US deputy secretary of state Robert Ingersoll in Jerusalem in 1975, the daily quoted US national archives as revealing.

Arias Navarro expressed concern over the establishment of a leftist government in Portugal following the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which toppled prime minister Marcelo Caetano's authoritarian government.

Madrid - Real Madrid midfielder will be out of action indefinitely, sports daily Marca reported on Saturday.

Marca states that the Spanish international will not play again until the causes of his Wednesday fainting fit are known.

De la Red, 23, fainted after just 18 minutes of Real's cup game away to third division side Union Irun. Scenes of panic and concern ensued, as the Spanish international was stretchered off unconscious and rushed to hospital.

Madrid - The Spanish royal court distanced itself Friday from comments expressed by Queen Sofia in a new biography in which she opposes gay marriage, among other political comments.

The queen was making the comments "in a private framework," a statement from the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid said. The queen's comments had also been misquoted, the palace said.

The new biography, The Queen Up Close, is the first time Sofia has made public comments on political issues.

Author Pilar Urbano said Sofia spoke out against gay marriage, abortion and quotas for women in politics.

Urbano rejected the palace's claim that the queen had been misquoted.

Madrid - Brazilian striker Edu de Souza is out of action for around six weeks due to injury, his Spanish club Real Betis announced on Friday.

London, Oct 31: Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has been branded ‘senile’ in Spain and compared to Spanish dictator General Franco.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said Ferguson was ‘getting old’ after an interview in which Manchester United’s coach resurrected Real Madrid’s links with Franco.

Madrid-based paper Marca responded with a series of five pictures of Ferguson changing into Franco, with a headline ‘Ferguson Senile’.

I’m not going to waste any time answering him. I admire his history but recently he has gone a bit senile,” The Sun quoted Calderon, as saying.

Ferguson’s own comments came as he slaughtered Real’s arrogant pursuit of Ronaldo during the summer.

Madrid - Spain's Queen Sofia opposes gay marriage and doesn't understand the need for gay pride parades, according to a report in the daily El Pais about a newly published biography on the queen.

According to the report, the queen is not opposed, in principle, to homosexuals living together or forming unions. "But you can't characterize this as marriage," she told the newspaper.

She proposed alternate names - civil union, for example - for such pairings.

She also questioned the need for gay pride parades.