Madrid - Spain's Queen Sofia opposes gay marriage and doesn't
understand the need for gay pride parades, according to a report in the
daily El Pais about a newly published biography on the queen.

According to the report, the queen is not opposed, in principle, to
homosexuals living together or forming unions. "But you can't
characterize this as marriage," she told the newspaper.

She proposed alternate names - civil union, for example - for such pairings.

She also questioned the need for gay pride parades.

"I can understand, expect and respect that there are people with

Pamplona - Seventeen people were injured on Thursday in a car-bomb attack in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, local authorities reported.

A vehicle exploded in a car park in the grounds of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, capital of the Navarra province which borders on the separatist Basque region.

Witnesses said several vehicles were set on fire by the explosion, and nearby buildings were substantially damaged.

Pamplona - Several people were injured on Thursday in a car- bomb attack in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, local authorities reported.

A vehicle exploded in a car park in the grounds of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, capital of the Navarra province which borders on the separatist Basque region.

Witnesses said several vehicles were set on fire by the explosion, and nearby buildings were substantially damaged.

Madrid - Villarreal can hardly wait for Saturday to come.

That's when they will have the chance to put their awful recent form behind them, away to lowly Athletic Bilbao.

The normally solid Villarreal defence began to show signs of vulnerability in last week's 6-3 defeat of Euro minnows Aalborg. Sunday saw the "Yellow Submarine" shipping water, when Atletico Madrid forced a bizarre 4-4 draw in El Madrigal.

And the submarine was sent to the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker on Wednesday, when Villarreal were astonishingly thrashed 5-0 in the King's Cup by third divsion Polideportivo Ejido.

Madrid - Villarreal can hardly wait for Saturday to come.

That's when they will have the chance to put their awful recent form behind them, away to lowly Athletic Bilbao.

The normally solid Villarreal defence began to show signs of vulnerability in last week's 6-3 defeat of Euro minnows Aalborg. Sunday saw the "Yellow Submarine" shipping water, when Atletico Madrid forced a bizarre 4-4 draw in El Madrigal.

And the submarine was sent to the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker on Wednesday, when Villarreal were astonishingly thrashed 5-0 in the King's Cup by third divsion Polideportivo Ejido.

Madrid - Major Spanish banking group BBVA reported Wednesday that it remained in the black after nine months this year despite the turbulence on international financial markets.

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) said it achieved net income of 4.5 billion euros (5.6 billion dollar), down 5.4 per cent from earnings in the corresponding period of 
2007.

Spain's second-biggest bank noted that last year's earnings were bloated by extraordinary income. Adjusting for that factor, then this year's nine-month earnings would have been 9.1 per cent higher.