Francisco Franco

Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau on Sept. 28 called for European Union mediation in the standoff over Catalonia's planned independence referendum in an opinion piece in Britain's Guardian daily.

Weary Spaniards will head back to the polls for the second time in six months after King Felipe on May 3 called fresh elections for June 26, which surveys suggest may result in yet another hung parliament.
 

Spain's Princess Cristina and her husband went on trial Jan. 11 under intense global media scrutiny in a landmark corruption case that has outraged the country and sullied the monarchy's reputation.

Two newly-established parties are set to shake the status quo in Spanish politics as citizens are casting ballots in a general election on Sunday.

Most polls show ruling Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has a narrow lead.

Dictators come in many shapes and sizes: Some are fat, like Uganda's Idi Amin; others skinny, like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew. Some, like the Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos, are of medium-build and without any facial hair, while others, like Adolf Hitler, are vertically challenged with a moustache. Yet others have a moustache and are taller.

A far-left party set up only in January is surging in Spain's opinion polls ahead of next year's general election, feeding off anger over corruption and unemployment, and shaking up the traditional two-party system.

Podemos, which means "We Can" in Spanish, took first place in a survey of voting intentions for the first time on Nov. 2.

A former psychiatrist, Lydie Salvayre won France's top literary prize, the Goncourt, for her book "Pas pleurer" ("Don't cry") in which she interweaves the voices of her mother and French writer Georges Bernanos during the Spanish Civil War.

Felipe VI of Spain was handed the throne by his father Juan Carlos late on Wednesday, in what marked the first succession of the crown in Spain's recent democratic history.

Spain's scandal-hit royal family looked to a new king- and queen-in-waiting to mend its fortunes as King Juan Carlos called an end to his 39-year reign on June 2.

The 76-year-old monarch said he would hand over the crown to his son Prince Felipe, 46, hoping to revitalise the palace and the country after years of scandal and recession.,