Spain

Veteran Edmilson to leave Villarreal for Palmeiras

Veteran Edmilson to leave Villarreal for PalmeirasMadrid  - 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.

Spain loses tourists - Britons and French come less

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.

Spain offers to help Obama in closing Guantanamo

Spain offers to help Obama in closing Guantanamo 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.

Six Pakistanis arrested in Spain on charges of aiding terror groups

SpainMadrid, 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."

ETA threatens new attacks in Spain

ETA threatens new attacks in SpainMadrid - The militant Basque separatist group ETA early Wednesday threatened to carry out attacks against entrepreneurs, technicians and others associated with the construction of a Basque high-speed rail network, and against national Spanish and local media.

In a communique published by the Basque newspaper Gara, ETA claimed responsibility for the killing of entrepreneur Ignacio Uria on December 3.

Uria's company participated in the construction of a high-speed rail network linking three Basque cities with each other, Madrid and France by 2013.

Goya masterpiece was done by another artist, Prado expert concludes

Goya masterpiece was done by another artist, Prado expert concludesMadrid - The Colossus, one of the most famous paintings attributed to Spanish master Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), was created by another artist, a Goya expert at the Prado art museum said Tuesday.

Manuela Mena was expected to make the conclusions of her investigation public in an upcoming report.

The painting, which shows a giant from the rear walking behind frightened people, has a "classicist" style which does not resemble that of Goya, Mena explained earlier.

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