Madrid  - A court in the northern Spanish city of Santander said Thursday it would seek the extradition of suspected swindler Jose Perez Diaz who has been arrested in Mexico after being on the run for 18 years.

Perez Diaz, known as Pepe el del Popular, 57, was one of Spain's most wanted fugitives, with media referring to him as an "early Madoff" - after confessed US financial fraudster Robert Madoff.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain - The Spanish holiday island of Tenerife suffered a massive black-out on Thursday, local media reported.

The electricity company Unelco tentatively attributed the power cut to a flash of lightning which hit a power plant in stormy weather.

The black-out affected almost the entire island of 900,000 residents, causing people to get stuck in lifts and traffic lights to go off.

Some radio stations and a tramway linking the capital Santa Cruz with La Laguna also stopped functioning.

Bilbao, Spain - Suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA on Thursday planted explosives near a Basque entrepreneur's home, causing slight material damage but no injuries, officials said.

The entrepreneur, who lives in the Basque locality of Amorebieta, was believed to be on ETA's hit list.

Several Basque entrepreneurs' associations condemned threats by ETA to business owners who refused to pay the group "revolutionary taxes."

Madrid - Mexican police have arrested a suspected Spanish swindler, dubbed an "early Bernard Madoff," who had been on the run for 18 years, press reports said Thursday.

Jose Perez Diaz, known as Pepe el del Popular, 57, was one of Spain's most wanted fugitives.

The former bank manager is suspected of defrauding more than 300 clients of about 36 million euros (49 million dollars) while heading a branch of Banco Popular in the northern city of Santander.

Barcelona - Student protests against a European university reform continued Wednesday in Spain, student and university representatives said.

Dozens of students occupied premises at three Barcelona faculties. Some of the occupants vowed not to come out until talks were opened about the so-called Bologna reform.

About 20 students also occupied the vice-chancellor's office at Zaragoza University.

The protests followed clashes between students and police in Barcelona a week ago.