Madrid - Three Spanish air force pilots were killed Tuesday in an accident involving two Mirage F-1 fighter-bomber planes, Defence Ministry sources said.

The planes, which were on exercise flights, crashed in a private property and a nearby terrain near Albacete in the south-east.

Witnesses said they heard an explosion and saw fire and smoke from several kilometres away. It was not clear whether the planes had collided in the air.

One of the planes had two and the other one pilot. The three bodies were retrieved from the wreckage. The crash did not cause further injuries or damage.

Madrid  - An advertising battle between atheists and believers expanded Monday in Spain as buses advocating the existence of God began running in Barcelona.

"When everyone abandons you, God stays with you," the Catholic association E-cristians said in an ad it had placed on a public bus. Two similar buses were due to start running shortly.

The buses were the answer of believers to two "atheist buses" carrying ads reading: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Madrid - Spanish football giants Valencia announced on Monday that goalkeeper Renan would be out of action for around a month.

The 23 year-old Brazilian tore a muscle in his left thigh in Sunday's 3-2 defeat away to Athletic Bilbao, and will not be back in action until late February.

Therefore, Valencia are looking for another goalkeeper in the January transfer window. The fourth-placed club does not appear to have much confidence in 22-year-old reserve Vicente Guaita, who came on for Renan in Bilbao and looked shaky.

Madrid  - Spain suffered its first avalanche victim of the year when a 24-year-old man was killed in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains north of the capital Madrid, local media reported.

Madrid - The Operation Puerto investigation into the biggest doping scandal in professional cycling has been reopened by Spanish judicial authorities, it was reported Saturday.

El Pais daily said a court in Madrid has overturned a ruling last year by investigative judge Antonio Serrano to close the case.

The ruling could pave the way for criminal proceedings in the investigation.

Operation Puerto was launched after raids in May 2006 in which police found large quantities of anabolic steroids, equipment used for blood transfusions and more than 200 bags of blood linked to more than 50 cyclists.

Madrid - The question on the lips of Real Madrid's millions of fans on Saturday is: what next?

On Friday the embattled Ramon Calderon tearfully resigned as president because of the scandal of the fake assembly delegates, handing over power to close friend Vicente Boluda.

Boluda, a 53 year-old shipping magnate, thus becomes the sixth president in just three stormy years.

What comes next for the troubled Spanish giants.

It is assumed by most of the Spanish media that Boluda will be content with being an interim president and organizing elections for June, without being candidate himself.