Palma de Majorca, Spain - The Spanish civil aviation authorities have suspended the operating licence of Futura International Airways after it sought bankruptcy protection, the charter carrier said Monday.

The licence could, however, be reactivated if Futura found an investor to finance its savings plan before 2009, the airline quoted the aviation authorities as saying.

Futura chairman Roman Pane earlier said the airline would reduce its staff of nearly 1,200 by half and trim its high-season fleet from 22 to about 12 aircraft.

Madrid  - Heavy rains sparked flooding in several parts of Spain on Monday, causing traffic jams and cutting rail links, officials said.

A elderly woman was found dead underneath a car in Coslada near Madrid. It was not immediately clear whether she had been carried away by floodwater. Four people were reported injured.

Garages and basements stood under water east of the capital. Power cuts were also reported. The highway leading from Madrid to Valencia was blocked by police at several points, causing massive traffic jams.

Santona, Spain - A Spanish soldier was killed Monday and five others were injured when a suspected ETA car bomb exploded outside a military academy in the northern town of Santona in the Cantabria region, officials said.

The bombing was the third attack by the Basque separatist group ETA within 24 hours.

Eleven people were injured on Sunday morning by a car bomb explosion at a police station in the northern Spanish town of Ondarroa near Bilbao.

Bilbao - At least six people were injured Sunday morning in a car bomb explosion near a police station at the northern Spanish town of Ondarroa near Bilbao, the second such attack within hours.

The Basque separatist group ETA was suspected in the explosion, which took place without warning. Two policemen and four passersby were among the injured.

Madrid -

Seville - Spain has sent a reconnaissance aircraft and 90 soldiers to Somalia as part of its efforts to combat the recent upswing in piracy off the coast of the African state, the Spanish Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

The surveillance plane as well as two troop transport and equipment flights left from Moron airbase near Seville in southern Spain and will operate from a base in Djibouti, the ministry said.

The Spanish mission will support a recent EU initiative to curb piracy in the Gulf of Aden, which has become a pressing problem in recent months.