Madrid - The Spanish government Friday approved a package of urgent measures to maintain employment and to protect the jobless after unemployment reached the record level of nearly 3.5 million people.
The measures included financial benefits for companies employing jobless people, and allowing those entitled to unemployment benefits to touch them faster.
Trade unions and employers' organizations criticized the measures as insufficient.
Madrid - A corruption scandal affecting Spain's main opposition conservative People's Party (PP) deepened Friday as two mayors resigned over the allegations.
Investigating judge Baltasar Garzon had previously presented new charges against PP politicians including Valencia regional Prime Minister Francisco Camps.
PP representatives governing regions or municipalities are suspected of accepting millions of euros in bribes from companies in exchange for contracts and illegal building permits.
Madrid - The Spanish football federation on Friday confirmed that the King's Cup final will be played in Valencia's Estadio Mestalla and not moved to a bigger ground.
The federation said in a statement that that Mestalla was chosen for the May 13 fina at the request of Valencia, as part of the celebration of the club's 90th anniversary.
Both finalists, Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, had been considering asking the federation to change the venue to a bigger stadium - such as Real Madrid's Estadio Bernabeu - in order to satisfy the demand for tickets from their fans.
Amsterdam/Madrid - Dutch authorities have requested the extradition of a Colombian national from Madrid to the Netherlands, Dutch media reported on Friday.
Spanish police detained the 26-year-old in Madrid after he was suspected of robbing a jewellery shop at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in August.
The man allegedly belongs to an international ring robbing banks and jewellery shops.
Last August six men and three women, all believed to be South Americans, seized booty worth 117,000 euros at Gassan Diamonds in Amsterdam.
They were believed to have flown in from Paris and committed the robbery during a 90-minute stopover before flying on to Istanbul.
Benidorm, Spain - The first day of play between title- holders Spain and Serbia was put off Friday after strong winds damaged the stadium, officials at the International Tennis Federation confirmed.
Powerful gusts had "blown off some of the rows of the stands" and impacted the stability of the stadium, said Soren Frienel of the ITF. Officials were hoping that play could begin Saturday in the eastern Spanish Mediterranean resort town of Benidorm.
Gibraltar/Madrid - Britain's Princess Anne on Thursday inaugurated a military hospital in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in an act that irritated Spain, Spanish media reported.
The hospital was located in a border area the sovereignty over which was unclear, Jose Carracao of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist Party was quoted as saying.
Already in January, Spain protested to the British embassy in Madrid about the royal visit, describing it as "inopportune."
Madrid - The Spanish government Friday approved a package of urgent measures to maintain employment and to protect the jobless after unemployment reached the record level of nearly 3.5 million people. 
Madrid - A corruption scandal affecting Spain's main opposition conservative People's Party (PP) deepened Friday as two mayors resigned over the allegations. 
Madrid - The Spanish football federation on Friday confirmed that the King's Cup final will be played in Valencia's Estadio Mestalla and not moved to a bigger ground.
Benidorm, Spain - The first day of play between title- holders Spain and Serbia was put off Friday after strong winds damaged the stadium, officials at the International Tennis Federation confirmed.
Gibraltar/Madrid - Britain's Princess Anne on Thursday inaugurated a military hospital in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in an act that irritated Spain, Spanish media reported.
