Bankia’s headquarters in Madrid Spain’s nationalized Bankia says it plans to cut 6,000 jobs by laying off about 28 percent of its staff over the next three years. The announcement on Wednesday follows a preliminary report on Madrid’s overall economy by the Spanish Central Bank suggesting that the country’s job-killing recession is expected to persist into the final quarter of 2012. Bankia’s... 

Spain’s Catalan nationalist party Convergencia I Union (CiU) led by Artur Mas won the elections in the Catalan Parliament on Sunday, but failed to win an absolute majority that it expects to govern alone. CiU secured 50 seats of the 135-seat local parliament in the elections, a setback from its previous 62 seats, which appeared to be a failure of its pro-independence campaign. Another nationalist... 

2300 GMT: Protesters in Barcelona burn two police cars forcing officers to respond with rubber bullets. Several people injured. ­2200 GMT: A group of protesters have set a barricade on fire on Madrid’s Santa Maria de la Cabeza street, El Pais reports. 1945 GMT: At least 118 people have been detained across Spain, according to El Pais. At least 40 have been injured, 18 of them police officers. 1930... 

Reuters polls show that the global economy is expected to improve only slightly in 2013. New projections on unemployment in eurozone show that the jobless rate among member countries will hit a new peak at about 12 percent next year. The European Union’s autumn forecast on Wednesday said that unemployment would hit a new peak at 11.8 percent among the 17-nation EU in 2013 and go down slightly to... 

People wait in line at a government employment office in the center of Madrid on September 4, 2012. Official data show that Spanish unemployment rate has exceeded 25 percent in the third quarter of 2012 as the country continues to grapple with economic woes. New figures released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute on Friday showed that the country’s unemployment rate climbed to 25.02 percent... 

Protesters clash with riot policemen during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain. Spain is considering a law that aims to ban photographing, filming or reproducing images of the country’s members of police and state security forces while they are on duty, officials say. Spain’s Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said that the government is considering the ban on capturing, playing back and processing... 

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating by two notches, warning that the deepening economic recession is limiting the government’s options. S&P warned that rising unemployment and harsh austerity measures are likely to intensify social unrest and cause further friction between Spain’s central and regional governments. “The downgrade... 

Madrid riot police have cleared Plaza de Neptune of protesters, with about 200 officers securing the surrounding blocks. At least 60 people have been injured and 26 arrested as police used batons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. ­Local emergency services have confirmed that at least 60 people, including eight policemen, were injured in clashes between police and protesters, El Pais reports.... 

The EU and Spain are trying to come to terms over a rescue plan for the debt ridden European economy. The government remains unwilling to apply for international aid, but analysts say asking for a bailout is essential. A new Spanish rescue programme to be announced next Thursday will be focused on the measures international lenders would ask in return for a bailout. As the ECB money always comes with... 

Euro zone finance ministers want a clear cut answer from Spain whether it will seek financial support after Madrid’s borrowing costs sharply lowered following the European Central Bank decision to buy bonds last week. Will Spain ask for its bailout, so that the ECB’s unlimited bond buying project can be launched? This question has recently been number 1 in Europe. The ECB has made it clear... 

As the economic and financial systems of the world rapidly approach the real possibility of total collapse, signs of what we can expect on a mass scale in the near future are beginning to appear throughout Europe. In Spain, a country that just a few years ago was heralded as a shining example of real estate entrepreneurship, international tourism and a rising middle class, the situation is so bad... 

The computer generated image shows how the Hiriko Fold is able to fold up to fit into tiny spaces. Researchers have designed a new car that can fold up to fit itself into small spaces, making it much easier for the driver to find a parking space. Developed by MIT’s Changing Places group and the Spanish Basque region’s development agency DENOKINN, the Hiriko Fold, is an ultra-compact electric... 

Wildfire flames are seen near Altemporada on July 22, 2012. The wind-fueled wildfire raged out of control in northeastern Spain. While raging wildfire in Spain’s Canary Islands of La Gomera has forced hundreds of residents to leave their homes, a separate forest fire leaves two people dead in the east of the country. According to authorities, at least one firefighter and an environmental agent lost... 

“German” Minister of Economy Philipp Roesler has expressed disillusionment with debt-ridden Greece’s endeavors to implement reforms to save its economy. “I’ve lost my illusions,” Roesler told the weekly magazine Focus in an interview to be printed on Monday. “I proposed with German businesses a whole series of support measures for the Greek government,” he said. “The... 

Spain’s unemployment rate reaches 24.63 percent. Spain says its unemployment rate for the second quarter of the current year has reached the record high of 24.63 percent. According to the new figures released by the government of Friday, nearly 5.7 million Spaniards are now out of work. The country also says that almost 53,500 people lost their jobs between April and June alone. The jobless rate...