Madrid  - Indian President Pratibha Patil was Tuesday welcomed by Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia after arriving Monday for the first official visit by an Indian head of state to Spain.

The four-day visit was expected to focus on stepping up trade relations, investments, and on the fight against terrorism, diplomats said.

The Spanish royal couple welcomed Patil and her husband Devisingh Ransingh Shekhawat in front of El Pardo palace.

Madrid  - Spain's King Juan Carlos was received with republican protests when visiting a mining region in Asturias in the north, the daily El Mundo said Friday.

The monarch had to bear with flags of Spain's 1931-36 Second Republic, shouts of "long live the republic" and loudspeakers playing the republican anthem on his way to visit a coal miners' training centre in Sama de Langreo on Thursday.

Madrid  - A southern Spanish mayor is under investigation by prosecutors in view of possibly charging him with insults to King Juan Carlos, press reports said Friday.

Madrid  - Spain's King Juan Carlos on Wednesday presented Ar