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General election

Photo: Gerard Julien / AFP

Suspense as Spain's most eventful election campaign draws to a close

Marked by an acrimonious debate, a punch in the face, star turns on TV and four very different main candidates, Spain's election campaign comes to an official close on Friday.

General election

Photo: AFP

Post election scenarios: Who will be Spain's next Prime Minister?

Will Sunday's general election herald in a new era of pact-making? The Local's editor Fiona Govan takes a look at what might lie ahead.

Archive photo: Shutterstock

Spain sets world record for most organ donations made in one day

Spain has broken its own world record for the number of organs donated in one single day, cementing its postition as global transplant leader.

Archive photo: Shutterstock

Spain's rail workers call off strike to great relief of Christmas travellers

People making their way home for Christmas on Friday are breathing a sigh of relief after Spain's train workers called off a propsed 23-hour strike.

Christmas 2015

Photo: Jaime Reina / AFP

Ten magical ways to give your kids the best Spanish Christmas ever

What child wouldn't love the fact that in Spain you get to celebrate, not once, nor twice, but three times, during the festive period? Lisa Sadleir tells The Local how to get the best out of Christmas in Spain.

Photo: Cristina Quicler / AFP

Spanish banks vow to keep stricken energy firm Abengoa afloat, for now

The creditor banks of Spain's troubled flagship renewable energy giant Abengoa are ready to inject new funds to keep it going over the next month or so, a source close the negotiations said on Friday.

General election

Photo: AFP

Podemos brings 'indignados' to the doors of Spain's parliament

Spain's protest party is poised to enter parliament as the nation goes to the polls on Sunday in the most unpredictable general election in decades.

Photo: Screenshot Telecinco

Six months in junior jail for teenager who punched PM in face

A Spanish court on Thursday sent the 17-year-old youth who punched Spain's prime minister in the face and broke his glasses to a juvenile detention centre for up to six months.

Photo: AFP

Spanish general election: the key players

Ahead of Spain's general election, The Local takes a look at the main players in what is being touted as the closest election in living memory.

General election

Photo: Screenshot Telecinco

Spain's PM punched in the face by his wife's teenage cousin

It has emerged that the 17-year-old who punched the Prime Minister in the face during a campaign walkabout in Galicia, breaking his glasses, is actually a relative of Mariano Rajoy's wife.

Features

Two of the Number26 founders, Maximilian Tayenthal (l) and Valentin Stalf (r). Photo: Number26

The startup looking to revolutionize the Spanish banking experience

A German startup is offering Spaniards the chance to avoid the hassle of long queues and awkward opening hours of Spanish banks and do everything on a smartphone - and in English.

Photo: Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP

'We've missed you': King honours Jews banished during Inquisition

Spain's King Felipe VI has honoured Sephardic Jews who were banished more than five centuries ago during the Inquisition, after a law allowing dual citizenship for their descendants came into force.

Opinion

Photo: Simon Paulin/Imagebank Sweden

The end of the expat? Europe's cities fight for 'Inpats'

Mention expats and many minds are drawn to stereotypes of workers sent abroad for three years to live in a compound and sip gin. But today’s mobile professionals aren't posted overseas – they just get up and go, writes The Local's Managing Editor James Savage.

Gallery

Photo: auroland2014/Instagram

10 stunning autumn shots of Spain

At this time of year Spain puts on a splendid show of autumn colours. Here are some of our favourite photos taken by The Local readers.

Refugee crisis

Photo: Pro-Activa Open Arms

'Women put their babies into our arms begging us to keep them safe'

As more and more refugees crowd into rubber dinghies to reach Europe, a Spanish volunteer lifeguard tells The Local how he's swapped the tourist packed beaches of Catalonia to go on patrol in Lesbos.

More news

Christmas 2015

Photo: Ayuntamiento de Tomares

Seven of the quirkiest Christmas nativity scenes on display in Spain

Spaniards love their Christmas nativity scenes, but there is nothing traditional about these quirky versions. The Local takes a look at seven of the most unusual 'Beléns' on display in Spain this year.

Photo: Carabinieri Napoli

Italian mafia fugitive arrested while running pizza restaurant in Spain

Spanish police have arrested a suspected member of Italy's Camorra mafia who has been on the run since 2007 in the Mediterranean port of Valencia where he owned a pizzeria.

Video

Photo: Screenshot from video by Carlos Haya Hospital

Spanish musician plays saxophone as surgeons remove brain tumour

A jazz musician played his saxophone during an operation to remove a tumour to enable brain surgeons to monitor the neurological activity.

Reconstruction of the dinosaur: Carlos de Miguel Chaves

125 million-year-old dinosaur with hump discovered in northern Spain

Paleontologists in Spain have unearthed the partial skeleton of a previously unknown dinosaur, which carried a tall, sail-like appendage on its back.

Photo: Lucho Vidales / Church Brigade

Abandoned church transformed into amazing colourful skate park

An abandoned church in northern Spain has been dramatically transformed into a skate park covered in colourful geometric patterns.

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From our other editions

Refugees at Vienna's Westbahnhof station. File photo: Caritas

Refugees: 'Austria isn't what we expected'

An increasing number of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo are returning to their countries, saying that they had expected better care and a shorter asylum process in Austria.

Photo: Jorge Amengual/AFP

Paris Hilton wants to become Swiss citizen

American hotel chain heiress and socialite Paris Hilton says she wants to become a Swiss citizen after receiving a visitor's permit to live with her millionaire boyfriend in the canton of Schwyz — a well-known tax haven.

Refugee crisis

Angela Merkel thanking delegates for their applause after her speech. Photo: DPA

Merkel speech quashes fear of party dissent

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) delegates offered Chanceller Angela Merkel a standing ovation that lasted almost ten minutes on Monday after a speech in which she called on the party's storied past to offer her vision for the future.

Torben Chris in the bath with his daughter. Photo: Torben Chris/Facebook

'A bath with your child is not paedophilia'

A Danish comedian has posted a photo of himself naked in the bath with his two-year-old daughter on Facebook, along with the message, "a father in the bath with his daughter is not paedophilia, it's 'hygge'".