Spain

Barcelona return to "scene of crime" Getafe By Duncan Shaw

European Champions LeagueMadrid - Barcelona are keen to stay well on top of the Spanish Liga by winning away to modest Getafe on Saturday.

Barca are currently six points ahead of dogged pursuers Real Madrid, and will go to Getafe in good heart after Tuesday's creditable 1-1 draw away to Bayern Munich which put them in the European Champions League semi-finals.

Josep Guardiola's team picked up no injuries in Munich. They have a fully fit squad for the first time this season due to the return to fitness of Gabriel Milito, Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure.

Real Madrid presidential elections scheduled for June 14

Real Madrid presidential elections scheduled for June 14 Madrid - The presidential election at Real Madrid has been set for June 14, the Spanish football giants announced on Wednesday.

The decision was reached during a board meeting on the day by interim president Vicente Boluda.

Boluda took over the presidency on a temporary basis in January from Ramon Calderon, who resigned in disgrace after media revelations that he had sneaked false delegates into the club's annual general assembly in January.

Owners ordered to take their dogs for walks at risk of fines

Owners ordered to take their dogs for walks at risk of fines Owners ordered to take their dogs for walks at risk of fines Gerona, Spain - Dog owners who do not take their pets for walks face fines of up to 400 euros (534 dollars) in the north-eastern Spanish city of Gerona, the daily El Periodico reported Wednesday.

The Catalan provincial capital has approved an order making it compulsory for dogs to get at least 20 minutes of exercise daily, if they are attached to, or kept in, small spaces.

Dali's birth house to be turned into a museum

Dali's birth house to be turned into a museum Gerona, Spain - The north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia will restore the birth house of surrealist master Salvador Dali (1904-89) and turn it into a museum, media reports Wednesday quoted officials as saying.

The town council of Figueres has purchased the house where the Dali family lived between 1900 and 1912, and where the artist and his sister Anna Maria were born.

The new museum is estimated to cost about 2.9 million euros (3.9 million dollars).

Villarreal's Senna out of action for three weeks

Villarreal's Senna out of action for three weeks Madrid  - Villarreal midfield anchorman Marcos Senna will be out of action for around three weeks with a thigh injury, the Spanish football club announced on Wednesday.

Senna, 32, tore a muscle in his left thigh in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at home to Malaga, a result which pulled Villarreal down to fifth in La Liga.

Senna will miss the next league matches as well as a Champions League quarter-final return leg at England's Arsenal which was scheduled for later Wednesday.

Inbreeding led to extinction of the Habsburgs in Spain, says study

Inbreeding led to extinction of the Habsburgs in Spain, says study Madrid - Constant intermarriage between relatives was the main cause of the extinction of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, which it ruled from 1516 to 1700, press reports Wednesday quoted a new study as saying.

Described as the first to apply genetics to a Spanish royal dynasty, the study confirms earlier hypotheses by many historians.

Spain's last Habsburg king, Chlares II, was unable to have children.

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