The papers remember the kidnapped Spanish aid workers and note the continuing winter weather

The Valencia High Court is concerned about water supply to the thousands of new homes to be built in the city’s Plan Rabasa

The plan by Alicante City Hall to develop an area of more than 4 million square metres in the north of the city, the Plan Rabasa, has been halted by the Valencia High Court. It followed an appeal placed by central government and one of the main concerns in last Thursday’s ruling was over water supply to the 13,500 new homes which are planned as part of the development. The Plan Rabasa got the go-ahead from the regional government earlier this year.

Thousands of people in northern Spain marched on Saturday in support of five executives of a Basque-language newspaper who are on trial for allegedly supporting the armed separatist group ETA.

The demonstrators marched through the streets of Bilbao, the Basque region’s financial centre, behind a large black and white banner that read “Freedom for Egunkaria”, images on Spanish television showed.

Spanish lawmakers Thursday approved a bill to legalise abortion, overriding a wall of protest from the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative opposition.

Tabled by the Socialist government, the abortion reform won backing from 184 deputies in Spain’s 350-seat lower chamber. It will now go to the upper-house Senate before returning to parliament for final approval.

The return of Aminatou Haidar to the Sahara dominates all the front pages in Spain today

More than 200 kilos have been seized at the port in Algeciras and 24 suspects, including port staff, have been taken into custody

The Civil Guard have released details of an anti-drugs operation against a network of smugglers linked to the port in Algeciras which has seen the arrest of 24 suspects and more than 200 kilos of cocaine seized by officers. The total amount is 213 kilos, and Europa Press reports that 13 of the suspects in custody are workers employed at the port.

A motion considering pardoning fines imposed if a Bluetooth system was installed in a month was defeated in Congress on Wednesday

In a debate on Wednesday, the Spanish Congress decided not to change the regulations regarding hands-free mobile phone use in vehicles. Manual use of a mobile or any system which has cables faces a 150 € fine and the loss of three points in Spain.

The admission to hospital of the Aminatou Haidar leads most of the papers

El Mundo says the activist agreed to be admitted to hospital last night after vomiting blood. She has accepted treatment but is continuing with her hunger strike.
El País reveals that envoys sent by King Mohamed VI are in the United States negotiating a solution to the case. The paper says the envoys are the head of Moroccan espionage and a friend of the King.
ABC says that before her admission to hospital Zapatero had promised a quick solution to the crisis, and the PP has blamed the Spanish Government for the ‘kidnapping’ of her.
Público notes that the EU has ruled out placing economic sanctions on Morocco.

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale according to Spain’s seismological institute said shook Spain, Portugal and Morocco early on Thursday.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.

The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at 2:37 am (0137 GMT) was in the Atlantic Ocean about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Cape St Vincent in Portugal and at a depth of 58 kilometres, the National Geographic Institute said.

An unpopular new Bishop in San Sebastian features on many of the front pages in Spain today

El Mundo notes that the Socialist party in Spain has changed direction and is now supporting a referendum for the Western Sahara. Congress has also voted in favour of ‘top level mediation’ with Morocco over the case of Aminatou Haidar who remains on hunger strike at Lanzarote Airport. Meanwhile Morocco has threatened ‘serious problems’ if the EU creates difficulties.
El País leads with the story and says that Congress has demanded more pressure be put on Rabat.

The blaze in the Sierra del Conjuro raged for almost 5 hours before it was brought under control

A forest fire which broke out in the Sierra del Conjuro in Motril on Monday afternoon destroyed nine hectares of land before firemen managed to bring the blaze under control after fighting to control the flames for almost hours.

The consignment was brought into port in Sagunto and 12 suspects are now in custody

A consignment of cocaine with a street value going into the millions has been found hidden amongst a cargo of bananas at the port in Sagunto, Valencia. A total of 228 kilos of cocaine have been seized. The Interior Ministry said all 12 members of the drugs network responsible for smuggling the cocaine into Spain have been taken into custody, with arrests taking place in Murcia, Málaga and Segovia.

The breakdown in talks at the meeting between the Presidents of the regions in Spain leads many papers

The unofficial Catalan referendum with voting taking place in 166 municipalities yesterday leads many papers, but the most popular photo is of a bloody Berlusconi

It increases the maximum period in immigrant detention centres up to 60 days

Changes to Spain’s Ley de Extranjería, the Law on Foreigners, came into force on Sunday. The reformed text was approved by parliament at the end of last month, and is the fourth reform of the legislation in less than a decade. The amendments include increasing the maximum period in immigrant detention centres from the previous 40 up to 60 days.

The Sevilla-bound carriageway was closed until the animal could be brought down with tranquiliser darts

The A-92 motorway was closed to traffic near Loja, Granada province, on Saturday morning, after a 100 kilo lioness escaped from the vehicle which was transferring her to Italy. The alarm was raised by passing motorists shortly after 9am on Saturday, and the Sevilla-bound carriageway was closed off after the animal was found calmly wandering along the road at kilometre 191 of the A-92.

María Antonia has suffered the amputation of both hands and feet

Catalan pianist, María Antonia, suffered an infection in 2003 which left her in a coma. When she came round she discovered that her hands and feet had been amputated, and she says that at that moment all she wanted to do was be unconscious again.

Now though, six years later, she is playing piano again, thanks to a bionic left arm and a prosthesis on her right arm which has been especially designed for the piano.

Aminatou Haidar and Barack Obama lead the Spanish papers today

One of the suspects is an employee at a juvenile care centre

A Guardia Civil investigation has led to the arrest of 15 people across the country, including an employee at a juvenile care centre, for allegedly swapping child pornography images online. Another four people have been questioned as suspects in the case.

The S&P report on the Spanish debt makes many front pages today