Madrid - An alleged spying scandal was Thursday rocking Spain's main opposition conservative People's Party (PP) against a backdrop of underlying power struggles.

The Madrid regional government used former police officers to spy on the movements and meetings of mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon's deputy and on a regional senior official close to PP leader Mariano Rajoy, the daily El Pais claimed.

The spying would have occurred in 2008 during a power struggle between Madrid regional Prime Minister Esperanza Aguirre and Ruiz-Gallardon, who are the main candidates to succeed Rajoy.

Madrid  - The quarter-finals of the Spanish King's Cup produced two contrasting first-leg clashes on Wednesday: an epic 3-2 win for Valencia over Sevilla, followed by a colourless 0-0 draw between crosstown rivals Espanyol and Barcelona.

Holders Valencia came from 2-1 down to score a dramatic win, thanks to late goals from Ruben Baraja and Juan Mata.

Valencia had taken a sixth-minute lead through David Villa, taking advantage of a schoolboy mistake from Adriano.

Madrid  - Brazilian giants Palmeiras announced on Wednesday that they have signed veteran Edmilson from Spanish club Villarreal, for an undisclosed fee.

According to Brazilian website Globoesporte, Edmilson, 32, has agreed to a two-year contract with Palmeiras, who are coached by Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

Villarreal have still not confirmed the departure of the Brazilian defender-cum-midfielder.

Edmilson joined Villarreal from Barcelona in July 2008, but has hardly played for the club.

Madrid - The number of foreign tourists visiting Spain declined by 2.6 per cent to 57.4 million visitors in 2008, the government said Wednesday.

Spain is the world's second-biggest tourist destination after France, according to the World Tourism Organization.

Tourism secretary of state Joan Mesquida downplayed the drop, saying the number of tourists remained on the same level as in 2006, while 2007 was a record year.

The number of British tourists to Spain declined by 3 per cent to 15.7 million and French tourists by 8.5 per cent to 8.1 million.

The regions to lose the most tourists were Catalonia in the north-east and Andalusia in the south, where tourism fell by 6.7 and 4 per cent respectively.

Madrid - Spain on Wednesday offered to help US President Barack Obama in closing the prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Spain would, however, first want to be informed in detail about the legal situation of each of the Guantanamo inmates, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told Punto Radio.

Moratinos congratulated Obama for having suspended prosecutions at Guantanamo for 120 days immediately after being sworn in on Tuesday.

Madrid, Jan 21 : Six Pakistani nationals have been arrested on suspicion of tax fraud and investigation is going on whether they diverted funds to Islamic terror groups

A foreign news agency quoted the Spanish police as saying that they have arrested six Pakistanis on suspicion of tax fraud and investigating their links in fund transfer to Islamic terror groups.

The Civil Guard said in a statement the alleged fraud was carried out through telecommunications companies and officials are investigating whether any money went to "armed groups."