Paris  - Giro d'Italia and Vuelta champion Alberto Contador of Spain won the prestigious Golden Bike award for the second straight year on Wednesday.

Contador received 72 votes as he beat Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland (47) and Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre of Spain (36) in the poll among the cycling media conducted by France's Velo Magazine.

Contador, 25, won the Tour in 2007 and completed his collection of major race wins this year at the Giro and Tour of Spain. He was unable to go for a second Tour de France title because his Astana team was not invited in 2008 over its doping-tainted past.

Bilbao, Spain  - Basque separatists Wednesday hailed the vote giving Greenland more au

Barcelona, Spain - Authorities in the north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia on Wednes

Madrid - Spanish football giants Valencia on Wednesday announced the signing of left-back Thiago Carleto from Brazilian club Santos.

Madrid - A debate was going on in Spain Tuesday about the presence of religious symbols in public places after a court in the northern city of Valladolid ordered a school to remove crucifixes at the request of some parents.

The crucifixes violated the constitution, which said Spain was a non-confessional state, the court said.

The Socialist government and the conservative opposition initially steered clear of a confrontation over the sensitive subject.

Education Minister Mercedes Cabrera said schools could take individual decisions on crucifixes based on what parents wanted.

Madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Tuesday announced measures to shore up the country's car industry, the slowdown of which is endangering an estimated 50,000 jobs.

The government is preparing a 2009-2010 plan to revive an economy hit by the global crisis. The plan includes measures to help the "important" car industry, Zapatero said.

"We will make efforts up to where we can legally," said Zapatero. But Spain could not act "outside the lines marked by the European Union," and would wait until the European Commission presented its plans for the car industry on Wednesday, the premier said.