Valencia, Spain  - The low-cost airline Ryanair on Friday announced the closure of its base in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, citing the refusal of the regional authorities to discuss a proposal for a joint promotion project.

The Valencia authorities had refused to "engage in constructive discussions in relation to the promotion of the airport and its routes across Ryanair's network in Europe," the airline said in a statement.

Valencia, Spain - A British woman and her daughter were killed after being carried away by flooding near Valencia in eastern Spain, officials said Friday.

The two women, aged 47 and 14, had been crossing a gully on foot in L'Olleria on Thursday evening. Their bodies were retrieved in the morning.

Rainwater inundated streets, tunnels and garages, and blocked roads and railway lines in the Valencia region. The ports of Valencia, Gandia and Sagunto were closed.

In southern Spain, stormy weather prompted the suspension of ferry links with the Moroccan port of Tangier and Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta.

Valencia, Spain  - The new Volvo XC60 crossover model is ready for European showrooms by November 2008 with the basic model to sell at 33,900 euros (49,416 dollars), the Swedish car maker announced at a presentation in Spain.

First unveiled as a concept at the Detroit Motor Show in 2006, the XC60 is lauded by the manufacturer as "the safest Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the world".

It features six airbags, electronic stability programme (ESP) and the so-called City-Safety-System.

Valencia, Spain - More than 40,000 Spaniards and tourists Wednesday bombarded one other with tomatoes in an event billed as the world's biggest vegetable war.

Six lorries dumped 115 tons of tomatoes in the centre of the eastern town of Bunol, which staged the Tomatina for the 63th time.

The one-hour battle momentarily got out of hand, with some of the "warriors" hurling tomatoes not only at each other, but also at people watching from their balconies.

A Japanese tourist was injured in the head in tumult.

The only weapons allowed are squashed tomatoes, but some participants wore goggles and bathing caps, while others shielded themselves with rackets or sported wigs or hats made of watermelons to add to the fun.

Valencia, Spain  - Spanish bank notes contain the highest concentrations of cocaine in Europe, according to a study made public on Thursday.

Randomly selected Spanish euro notes contained traces of cocaine at an average concentration of 155 microgrammes, according to the study by Valencia University made public in the magazine Trends in Analytical Chemistry.

Cocaine was found not only on notes that had been in direct contact with the drug, but on nearly all notes in circulation, said Miguel de la Guardia, co-author of the study.

He attributed the phenomenon to cross-contamination between bank notes, as well as in money-counting machines in banks.