El País has a front page photo of a street full of rubble after the flooding on Madeira. The paper says that the search for the dead is underway after the 15 hours of torrential rain has called at least 42 deaths and more than 100 injuries.

El Mundo, once again, pours doubt on the verdict and sentence in the Madrid Train Bombing case. The paper has now found video recordings which they say shows the concern of the Police and Guardia Civil technicians who did not believe the type of explosives used. Titadyn was said to have been used and not Goma 2 ECO, the latter normally used by ETA. The paper has been broadcasting the videos on its Veo 7 Television Channel overnight. The paper puts a still on its front page as it revives the conspiracy theory yet again.

El País has more revelations in the Gürtel case and says that Hacienda has uncovered a 3.8 million € fraud carried out by nine top PP members linked to the businesses of Francisco Correa.

ABC leads with more from the ETA informants’ case, and headlines that ETA was convinced by the person who tipped them off that he was untouchable, days before.
La Razón has a poll which shows that most Spaniards have no idea what the Faisán case is about.

El Mundo reports that the Prime Minister, speaking at a party rally in Málaga on Sunday, said he will be firm with the market and flexible with the businessmen. The paper notes that Zapatero and the party needed a rally.
El País notes that Zapatero asked Rajoy for help, but did so after blaming the PP for the massive unemployment. The Socialists blame the construction boom on Aznar.
El País also notes that wages last year for general workers fell by three times those of businessmen, according to the tax take where levels are back to the year 2007.
ABC says Zapatero has used patriotism to make a call to the PP to join a pact. The paper also notes that the Government is trying to evaluate the performance of the country’s civil servants.
La Razón says that Government will only pact cuts in spending and anti-bad debt measures with the PP. The paper claims that the Socialists consider that talks on the VAT increase and taxes are out of bounds.
Público notes Zapatero’s call to Rajoy – ‘I don’t ask that he helps the Government, but the country’.

Público has a five page report which claims that the predictions of bankruptcy for the pensions system are false. The paper says the predictions made in the 90’s by the banks and businesses were way off, and notes that the unions start a week of demonstrations today.

El País leads with an interview with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He says that the EU has never made the demands on any country that it is making of his.

El Mundo notes the whistling during the National Anthem at the King’s Cup basketball final last night in the presence of the King and Queen at the Buzkaia Areaa. It notes also shouts of ‘fuera!’ – (out!).
La Razon says there were 35 seconds of whistling and 1 hour 37 minutes of good play.
El País tells us that it was an ex British spy who handed over the ransom for the Basque tuna boat, ‘Alakrana’ kidnapped by Somali pirates. The paper says that 2.7 million € was paid and the money came from the ship’s owners.

Público notes that a judge is to investigate a new charge of fraud against the Nueva Rumasa company, and that the United States culture industry has denounced that Spain does not protect author’s rights, with the publication of their 301 list.

El Mundo reports that AENA the Spanish Airports Authority has been awarding contracts in an irregular fashion.

El Mundo puts Cristiano Ronaldo on the front page as he shows his vest saying ‘Madeira’ after scoring as part of Real Madrid’s 6-2 thrashing of Villarreal.
ABC has a large front page photo of the Portuguese player.
Staying with sport, Fernando Alonso tells El Mundo that he’s more fun than he seems. He also tells the paper that Zapatero had better get it right, and Rajoy should collaborate for the good of Spain.

And finally,
La Razón says that the Ministry for Defence is to spend 90,000 € on a concert from Miguel Poveda for the EU Defence Ministers summit which is to be held in Palma.

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El País leads with the words of Celestino Corbacho, the Minister for Employment and Immigration. He tells the paper that early retirement should be prohibited in companies making a profit.
El Mundo reveals 66 billion € debt which it says the state is not counting. That’s the amount owed by municipalities and regions, and it triples the national figure.

El Mundo has a new photo of ETA terrorists Irati Aranzábal and José Ignacio de Juana Chaos from the Irish Times. The paper captions ‘The happiness of the killer’ saying how De Juana lives off her wage and with a 300 € pension, with Sinn Fein paying for his home in Belfast. It’s odd to see the man smile, as he never does on public.

El País reports that King Juan Carlos is to end the secrecy over what he does with his day. From now on the Royal Household will make his activity and who he meets and talks to public. Until now his meetings have been secret.

La Razón headlines that the Prime Minister is considering changing five ministries from July. The paper considers the strength of José Blanco and Miguel Sebastián is taking importance away from Elena Salgado and the hard centre.
Público has an interview with José Blanco who tells the paper that the nationalist parties are showing more sense of State than the Partido Popular. He says the PP should decided if they want to act as a motor or break to economic recovery.
Público considers that Zapatero will use the anti-crisis commission to redesign his government. It says that Mariano Rajoy has reduced the attempts to find a pact as a Socialist attempt to gain time.

El País has a front page photo of Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist of the famous images of Mohammed. He has now been condemned to death by Islamic extremists, and the paper says he now has bodyguards on the door of his home.

La Razón notes that more than 30 people have died on Madeira and as a photo of floods trying to drag a man away. It notes too that the alert for bad weather continues in the south of Spain today.

El Mundo reports that Spain has paid the ransom for the released of the three Catalan aid workers. The paper says five million dollars paid to the Al Qaeda terrorists in the Magreb. The paper also has an interview with the President of Mali.

El País notes the fall of the Dutch government, broken over tensions in the coalition on keeping troops in Afghanistan.

El Mundo says the DNA Of Tutankhamen has revealed the Egyptian Boy King was born through incest.

El País reconstructs what is considered to be the Mossad killing of the Hamas leader, Mahmud al Mabhuh, in Dubai.
El País notes that Roman Polanski has been forgiven at the Berlin Film Festival where he has been named Best Director for his him The Ghost Writer.

El Mundo travels to Flores in Indonesia, where the people are rarely 1.25m tall. Journey to the island of the ‘hobbits’ is the headline.

La Razón has an interview with the actress Lina Morgan. She tells the paper that the ‘anything goes’ attitude in Spain is the country’s big failing, and that it will take us to moral and economic ruin’.

And finally,
El Mundo answers the question ‘Am I a sex addict’ and has seven questions to see if you are hypersexual.

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El Mundo headlines that the Bank of Spain has worsened the data given by Zapatero in the Congress debate on the economy on Wednesday. The Bank thinks there will be a further shrinkage of 0.5% in GDP this year and no net creation of employment. They also expect the debt to rise 12 points to reach 67% of GDP.
ABC notes that with the Secretary of State for the Economy in the United States, the IMF has made it clear that Spain has nothing to do with Greece.

El Mundo notes that José Blanco has opened the talks on setting up a pact with the opposition parties on the economy, but did so denouncing the ‘egoism and greed’ of the Partido Popular leader.
La Razón says that Zapatero’s anti-crisis pact has started by denying the PP, and that Salgado called Rajoy to invite him to the Moncloa only five minutes before announcing the visit to the press. The paper says the Government phoned all the parties except the PP to inform them of the content of the debate last Wednesday.
El País says that Zapatero is opting for an alliance with the CiU and the PNV for the anti-recession deal, and that Elena Salgado has summoned Rajoy for the talks.
Público notes that too and says that 68% of PP voters want to see a pact.
ABC highlights the Prime Minister’s decision to give the job of setting up the talks to Blanco, Salgado and Sebastián. The paper considers that is to the detriment of De la Vega and Corbacho.

Many papers highlight the appearance of José María Aznar at Oviedo University. Applauded inside he was met with protestors outside who called him a war criminal among other insults. El Mundo is among the papers to show the photo of the ex Prime Minister sticking a finger up at the demonstrators. He told them there were some people ‘who cannot live without me’.
El País highlights that quote and has a large photo of Aznar sticking his finger up.
Público has a large front page photo of the finger in the air with the caption ‘The education of an ex Prime Minister’, adding that minutes earlier he had been pontificating about ‘moral authority’, only to respond to students’ protests with ‘an obscene gesture’.

Público highlights three judicial rulings which have gone against the Partido Popular in the Constitutional and Supreme Courts. They are the Matsa case against Manuel Chaves, El Cabanyal where Camps and Barberá cannot demolish the area of Valencia they wanted, and thirdly the block on the merger of the savings banks in Galicia.
El País notes the Constitutional Court has suspended the merger of the savings banks in Galicia.
ABC claims the Government is using the Constitutional Court to block the initiatives from the PP regions.

La Razón says that the Catalan Government is obliging the publi demanded explanations from Israel about the killing of the terrorist Mahmud al Mabhuh in Dubai.
El País leads with the story and says the killing of the Hamas chief has opened a crisis between Israel and the E.U. The paper reports that the head of the Dubai police has accused Mossad, the Israeli secret service of carrying out the crime, and notes the assassins used fake passports from four European countries.

El Mundo reports that Barack Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama by the back door yesterday. It notes that Beijing has spoken of its ‘deep discontent’ at the visit. El Mundo has a photo, as the paper puts it, of the Dalai Lama next to the White House rubbish bins.
Público considers that Obama gave only lukewarm support to the Dalai Lama.

El País reports that a massive cyber attack has seen the data of 100,000 internet users stolen round the world. More than 74,000 computers have been infected in 196 countries.

La Razón says that ETA has intended to move its bomb factory from France to Cataluña.

Público notes that Facebook is to prohibit access to the under 14 year olds.
La Razón notes new classifications from the Ministry for Culture will see films with sexual content apt for 12 year olds.

And finally,
El Mundo notes that the Cibeles fashion show in Madrid has opened, with ten young designers presenting their most daring collections. The paper also considers the irreverence of the modern art fair ARCO in Madrid.
ABC has a front page photo of the Prince and Princess of Asturias who passed by the ABC stand at ARCO after opening the fair yesterday.
La Razón too with a large front page photo of the Prince and Princess smiling at the art of ARCO.

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El Mundo leads with the headline, Zapatero offers a pact and Rajoy says he does not believe him.
El Mundo has a front page photo of three ministers, Elena Salgado, Minister for Tax and the Economy, flanked by Miguel Sebastian from Industry and José Blanco from Development. The paper says the three have been given the job of making a pact on the economy with other parties over the next two months.
El País says that Zapatero and Rajoy have left the pact in ‘via muerta’ after the nasty debate. The paper notes that the leader of the opposition has called on the Socialists to change their leader, while the Prime Minister said to Rajoy if he had any courage he should present a motion of no confidence.
El País says that Rajoy convinced his PP supporters even though he was out of salts in his reply to the Prime Minister.
ABC headlines that after two years of crisis, Zapatero has proposed a pact.
Público says Zapatero offered a pact and Rajoy rejected it. It says the Prime Minister has assigned Salgado, Blanco and Sebastian to try and reach agreements with the other parties over the next two months.

El Mundo has an opinion poll from Sigma 2 which shows that Rajoy won the debate against Zapatero in Congress, 40% to 31%. It’s the first time the PP leader has come out on top. 79% of the public say they want to see a cross party pact to get out of recession.
La Razón also has a poll from NC Report on the state of the economy, and considers that Rajoy beat Zapatero in the ‘decisive debate’. It also notes however that 58% of Spaniards consider that debates don’t solve anything.

El País notes that consumer spending has grown in Spain for the first time after two years of recession. It notes that it is the public sector and the real estate industry which has obstructed the exit from recession.

El Mundo has a photo of the two ETA supporters who were arrested yesterday by the Catalan Police, Los Mossos d’Esquadra.
La Razón reports that ‘Ata’ has taken over from ‘Txeroki’ as the head of the terrorists.

El Mundo says that the investigator has ratified before Judge Garzón that the director of the police ordered the tip off to the bar frequented by ETA activists in the ‘Faisán’ case.
El País says a judge linked to the PP toughened up the report on the case, while ABC says the Chief of Police has been implicated in the case again.

La Razón notes that the Church as obtained 237,000 more income tax declarations, and collected 252.6 million € as a result.

El Mundo has a photo of the bullfighter, Juan Pedro Galán, who has been arrested with his parents accused of running a prostitution racket, or as the paper puts it, being the ‘emperor of puticlubs’.

La Razón notes that the abortion reform was passed in the Senate yesterday by a single vote.

El País notes that Russia has suspended the sale of an anti missile system to Iran. The paper notes that the decision came the day after the visit to Moscow of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

El Mundo shows a photo of the King in the White House with Barack Obama yesterday. The paper says the President has promised to visit Spain, but no date has been fixed.
El País has a photo of the King having lunch with Obama and Hillary Clinton. The paper says that the President certified the good state of relations between the USA and Spain yesterday.
La Razón also with a photo from the White House and noting that Obama promised the King he would visit Spain.
ABC with a large photo of the King with Obama, and reporting that Obama has expressed his wish to visit Spain.

And finally,
El País notes that the Ray Gosling case in the U.K. has re-opened the debate on Euthanasia.

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El Mundo says the Government will only accept a pact on concrete P.P. proposals. The paper says that will be the position of the Prime Minister in Congress today, while Mariano Rajoy will repeat on the need for a radical change in economic policy.
ABC leads with the headline that Rajoy will demand a radical change in economic police from the Government in Congress today, but that the Government will only agree to agreement on certain topics.
La Razón says that Zapatero phoned Duran to look for support of the CiU last weekend. The paper says that the two agreed to lower the political tone and their differences.
Público headlines that the Prime Minister will put forward five agreements to the opposition today. The paper says he wants to see a pact on austerity, the new productive model, the education system, labour reform and the retirement age. But, the paper says, both the Government and opposition admit the chances of agreement are minimal.

El Mundo headlines that Judge Baltasar Garzón wants to close the Faisán ETA informant case before he is suspended. The paper says that after months of inactivity, he will today interrogate the three policemen ordered to do so by the Supreme Court, and that he has already asked for more documents from France.
Público says that a group of jurists have appealed to the United Nations in the defence of Judge Garzón, while the General Council for Judicial Power has accepted that he write to them before deciding if he is to be suspended while the charges of perversion of the course of justice are investigated.

El Mundo also reports that ETA activist José Ignacio De Juan Chaos has been denied a taxi drivers licence in Belfast, for hiding his past.
ABC notes that the police has stopped another ETA attempt to bring shooters into Spain with the arrest of man on the French border at Port Bou yesterday.
La Razón has a photo and considers that ETA wanted to establish a base in Cataluña. The paper says the man had money to rent a warehouse to house explosives.

El País reports that the Anti-corruption prosecutor has asked for the accounts of the Valencia Partido Popular to be investigated in ten banks.

El Mundo has a front page photo of the Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, decorating the ‘brave’ from the UMD. The Unión Militar Democrática was an anti-Franco organisation dismantled by its own members 35 years ago.
El País also has a front page photo of the event.

El Mundo notes that the SUP police union in Madrid has called on its members not to carry out the massive raids on paperless immigrants. It’s another setback for the Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, who has declared ‘street war’ on the immigrants according to the paper.

La Razón says that a judge has asked the CNI, the Spanish Secret Service, to identify the mediators in the payment of the ‘Alakrana’ Basque trawler ransom in Somalia.

In international stories, El Mundo notes that Pakistan supports the Untied States offensive with the capture of the Taliban number two.
El País says that Taliban military chief has been detained in Pakistan by the CIA.

El País headlines that the European Union has taken effective control of the Greek economy. The paper says Brussels has put a fierce control on the finances and Athens has to reform pension, health and the public sector.

El Mundo has a photo of Ray Gosling, following the confession of the British journalist that he suffocated his partner, terminally ill with Aids, with a pillow. El Mundo asks ‘Assassination or Compassion?’

La Razón says the Pope is to visit Barcelona this year to consecrate the Sagrada Familia.

El País reports that France used soldiers as guinea pigs in nuclear tests. It says that 300 soldiers were used in a test in the Sahara in 1961 according to a military report released yesterday.

El Mundo tells us that its website has consolidated its position as leader with 23.7 million readers, 7.7 of them in America.

El Mundo and El País both have a photo of the face of the ‘boy king’ Tutankhamen, who experts now say died of malaria. ABC says that DNA has given us the answer.

ABC has a photo from the football last night and notes that Real Madrid have been beaten in Lyon again.

And finally,
ABC tells us that the Minister for Equality, Bibiana Aído, gave a grant of 26,000 € for a ‘map of the sexual excitation of the clitoris’.

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El Mundo says that Judge Garzón has been ordered to the take the statements of the police witnesses in the case and ask France for all the documents it has on the phone calls made by the ETA activists. The paper headlines that the court described the case as ‘serious without precedents’. El Mundo notes that pro-Garzón lawyers have accused the Supreme court of being malicious in its ruling, and acting for ‘political reasons’.
El País notes that Garzón has been told to continue the investigation to the very end.
La Razón leads with the story and says the police chief in the case did not want to intervene because of the political risks. The paper says he did not inform his superiors.
ABC headlines that the court has ordered Garzón to uncover who it was who tipped off ETA.

El Mundo notes that the Valencia court has sent its half of the Gürtel case back to the court in Madrid as the investigation into the possible illegal financing of the PP continues.
El País leads with the story and highlights the fact that the Valencia Court thinks that the financing of the PP needs to be investigated as indications of a crime have been noted by the judges. It notes too that the single administrator was Luis Bárcenas, the ex party treasurer who is still a PP senator, and for whom the party is paying his defence. El País tells is that Francisco Camps has said that the control of the party finances was done by Mariano Rajoy and his team.
Público devotes its front page to the story and says the Gürtel case has turned against Camps again. It notes that the Valencia High Court has found possible illegal financing of the Partido Popular, and accepted the wishes of the Prosecutors’ Office and passed the investigation to the Madrid High Court.

La Razón has a front page photo from an event in honour of the first ETA victim, a 22 month old baby. A plaque in the name of Begoña Urroz was unveiled in Lasarte yesterday.

El Mundo has a photo of the Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, on the front page. He was in Dakar, Senegal yesterday for an international conference on drug trafficking.

La Razón reports that the criticism from the hostelry industry has obliged the Ministry for Health to delay reforms to the anti-smoking legislation. The paper is the only one to have the story today.

Público tells is that the PP is pouring cold water on a possible cross party pact on Education.

La Razón reports that José Montilla has rejected the resignation of Maragall as the three-way coalition in Cataluña continues under strain.
ABC says he did so to stop the deterioration in the Catalan Socialist party

El Mundo notes that the EU has called on Greece to explain whether Goldman Sachs took part in the hiding of their debt.
ABC says the EU is following the tracks of the Greek accounts to Wall Street.
El País says it comes as Brussels is to audit the EU states to avoid tricks in the accounts.

El País notes that Barack Obama has broken a 30 year gap and ordered two new nuclear reactors. The paper says the fight against climate change and a move to clean energy has led the President to take the decision.

El País has an aerial photo of the crash site of the two Belgian trains on the front page. The paper says that at least 18 people died in the head on collision and 162 were injured.
ABC has a front page photo from the snowy site with a man carrying a child in his arms.

El Mundo puts a photo of a manuscript written by Lope de Vega on its masthead today. The Ministry for Culture has just paid 700,000 € for it.

Many papers have photos of Zapatero and his wife with the Goya winners. El Mundo notes it was the first time that the Prime Minister had invited the Goya winners to the Moncloa palace.

El País has a piece in its ‘Vida y Artes’ pages today on how to look beautiful if you are size 48.

And finally,
Público notes that Microsoft has presented it new Windows 7 Mobile operating system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The system, designed to compete with the iPhone, is getting critical acclaim for its originality.

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It was a 6-2 thrashing for Real Madrid against Villarreal on Sunday, with Cristiano Ronaldo on top form, scoring a great goal from a free kick and taking part in three more. It means the gap at the top of the table remains two points after Barcelona found their form against Racing with it ending 4-0. Ibrahomovic pickled up an ankle injury and is a doubt for Barça against Stuttgart. Already out for the game through injury are Keita, Abidal, Xavi and Dani Alves.

Sevilla beat Mallorca at home 1-3, Deportivo suffered against Xerez, Athletico de Madrid returned to poor form in Almería and Málaga managed another win.

Primera Liga

Deportivo 2 – 1 Xerez

Barcelona 4 – 0 Racing

Mallorca 1 – 3 Sevilla

Málaga 2 – 1 Espanyol

R. Zaragoza 1 – 3 Sporting

Athletic 4 – 1 Tenerife

Osasuna 1 – 1 Valladolid

Almería 1 – 0 Atlético

R.Madrid 6 – 2 Villarreal

Valencia - Getafe (plays tonight)

Classification
1 Barcelona 58
2 R.Madrid 56
3 Valencia 43
4 Sevilla 42
5 Deportivo 38
6 Mallorca 37
7 Athletic 36
8 Getafe 32
9 Osasuna 30
10 Villarreal 29
11 Sporting 28
12 Málaga 27
13 Atlético 27
14 Almería 26
15 Espanyol 26
16 Racing 25
17 R. Zaragoza 21
18 Valladolid 20
19 Tenerife 20
20 Xerez 11

Second Division
Elche 0 – 0 Levante
R. Betis 0 – 0 Albacete
Castellón 2 – 2 Cartagena
Villarreal B 1 – 1 Recreativo
Cádiz 2 – 2 Hércules
Celta 1 – 0 Córdoba
Nástic 0 – 1 Huesca
Murcia 1 – 0 Numancia
R. Unión 2 – 1 Rayo
Girona 1 – 0 R.Sociedad
Las Palmas 2 – 2 Salamanca

1 Hércules 48
2 R.Sociedad 47
3 Cartagena 44
4 Levante 40
5 Numancia 39
6 Villarreal B 37
7 R. Betis 36
8 Elche 35
9 Nástic 35
10 Huesca 32
11 Córdoba 32
12 Rayo 31
13 Salamanca 31
14 Recreativo 30
15 Las Palmas 29
16 Celta 29
17 Girona 29
18 Albacete 28
19 Murcia 26
20 Cádiz 25
21 R. Unión 24
22 Castellón 20

In the King’s Cup Basketball Regal Barça humiliated Real Madrid 80-61 to get their second title of the season. The game is making the headlines for events off the court, where the King and Queen were booed and whistled at the stadium in Barakaldo before the match. It came during a short version of the national anthem.

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A British couple has died overnight when the roof of the cortijo rural house they were visiting collapsed in Granada.

It happened in the village of Rubite, and Motril firemen at the scene said that a landslide caused by the recent rains was the probable cause of the tragedy.

The local Mayor, Arsenio Vázquez, has called for the area to be classified as a catastrophic zone because of all the damage done by the recent storms.
Reports say that the tragedy happened at 6,30pm on Monday night at the property which was on the road between Castell del Ferro and Órgiva.

The dead couple have been named as 64 and 63 year old Christopher and Christine Martin, who actually live in nearby La Mamola on the coast, but who were staying in the cortijo by invitation of the owners.

The owners, another British couple, were also in the house when the roof collapsed but they escaped with their lives.
The woman, Caroline, was a short distance away from the visitors on the sofa quietly sitting watching television when she heard a crack and saw the roof come down on her friends. She has been taken to hospital with multiple fractures, while her husband, Stewart, was unhurt as he was outside attending to the animals at the time, but he suffered a nervous attack after the tragedy.

Canal Sur reports that the construction of the building is ‘relatively modern’.

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