Madrid - Thousands of Spaniards around the country Thursday staged silent rallies to protest the killing of entrepreneur Ignacio Uria by suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA.

Uria, 71, was gunned down in Azpeitia in the Basque region on Wednesday.

ETA was believed to have targeted him as one of the heads of a company participating in the construction of a high-speed railway which the group opposed on ecological and political grounds.

Protesters gathered in front of city halls while parliament and regional institutions also observed a moment of silence.

Madrid  - A decades-old row over whether crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings in a non-confessional state has erupted again in Spain.

The recurrence of the "war of the crucifix" was seen by many analysts as partly reflecting a certain indecisiveness of the authorities caught between Spain's traditionally Catholic identity and an increasingly secular society.

Madrid - Klaas Jan Huntelaar flew into Madrid on Wednesday to sign for Spanish football champions Real Madrid.

The Dutch striker was due to undergo medical tests later in the day, particularly on the right ankle that has kept him out of action fror the past month.

Huntelaar told the media at Barajas airport that his injury was "coming along well."

The international forward added that it was "a dream come true" for him to sign for Real, who have paid 20 million euros (25.30 million dollars) to Ajax of Amsterdam for him.

Madrid - Controversy continued in Spain on Wednesday over allegations that the former conservative government gave permission to the United States to secretly fly terrorist suspects via Spain to the prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Conservative leader Mariano Rajoy denied having known anything about such flights, while the left-leaning daily El Pais reported that a 2002 Foreign Ministry document on the flights had mysteriously disappeared.

Madrid - Troubled Spanish giants Valencia are considering selling off their most important stars - in order to reduce their massive debts.

Sports daily Marca said on Wednesday that Premier League clubs Chelsea and Manchester City are interested in in Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa, and that Barcelona are renewing their interest in David Silva, another member of the Euro-winning Spain team.

Other Valencia stars rumoured to be the targets for other clubs, are Spanish internationals Joaquin, Fernando Morientes, Vicente Rodriguez and Raul Albiol, plus Portuguese players Miguel, Manuel Fernandes and Hugo Viana.

Valencia are rumoured to be more than 150 million euros (253 million dollars) in debt, and could be soon filing for bankruptcy.

Madrid - Unemployment in Spain climbed in November for the eighth consecutive month, increasing by about 170,000 to nearly 3 million, the highest since February
1996, the Labour Ministry announced Tuesday.

The service and construction sectors were affected most, the ministry said.

Spain's unemployment has risen by nearly 43 per cent over the past year. European Union statistics put the jobless level at 12.8 per cent.