Madrid

Women in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious bull-running festival, are demanding their own version complete with cows instead of bulls. A student website set the ball rolling with its campaign ”Cows want to run” which asks for a separate encierro where only women are allowed to take part.

A Spanish woman who pulled the mask off a man as he tried to strangle her was astonished to discover the attacker was her estranged husband, Spanish media reported on Friday. The woman had thought the masked man, who burst into the bakery where she worked in the city of Valencia, was a robber.

A Spanish hotel chain is looking for stressed guests who will be allowed to let off steam next week by smashing the interior of a central Madrid hotel as part of its refurbishment. NH Hoteles will select 30 people who will be able to take part in the destruction of the 146 rooms at the 11-year-old hotel on July 3.

France striker Thierry Henry passed a medical at Barcelona on Monday, paving the way for him to complete his move from Arsenal. ”He has passed all the tests satisfactorily,” Barcelona team doctor Ricard Pruna was quoted as saying on the club’s website.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been taken aback by the decision of players such as Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho to miss a reception with Nelson Mandela on the club’s tour of South Africa. ”It could appear to be a bit surprising,” Laporta was quoted as saying.

A Nigerian illegal immigrant died while being deported from Spain with a restraining gag over his mouth, Spanish media reported on Monday. The Iberia jet flying 97 passengers to Nigeria had to turn back to Spain and land in Alicante on Saturday after crew discovered that Osamuyia Aikpitanhi (23) had died, newspaper El Pais said.

The armed Basque separatist group ETA said on Tuesday it was ending a ”permanent” ceasefire declared last year, accusing the Spanish government of persecuting the group instead of negotiating with it. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero immediately labelled the move a ”mistake” and asked the outfit to definitively eschew violence.

A man checking for fire damage at a home he bought in a foreclosure auction walked into the living room and found the former owner’s mummified body sitting on the couch, Spanish police said on Tuesday. Coroners estimate the woman’s remains had been there since 2001.

Africa is threatening to become the world’s newest drug nightmare as Colombian narcotics barons scheme to turn the continent into a hub for shipping cocaine to Europe, the head of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said on Tuesday. DEA administrator Karen Tandy said officials are also very worried about Africa’s new role as a weigh-station for heroin.

A five-storey apartment block in the Spanish city of Palencia collapsed after an explosion caused by a suspected gas leak on Tuesday, killing at least five people, Spanish media reported. At least eight residents were injured by the morning blast near Palencia’s cathedral, a spokesperson for the emergency services said.

South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel captured his second European title when he won the Spanish Open on Sunday. Schwartzel finished on a 16-under-par total of 272 to take the  000 first prize, a 15-foot eagle putt on the long 16th giving the 22-year-old from Johannesburg a huge boost in a late duel with Carlos Rodiles.

Barcelona turned on the style to pull three points clear at the top of the Primera Liga with a 2-1 win over Deportivo Coruna on Saturday. Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho, who has been at the centre of intense media speculation over his future, helped set up goals for Lionel Messi before the break and Samuel Eto’o soon after the restart.

Real Madrid have denied media reports that coach Fabio Capello handed in his resignation on Monday evening, just one day before their Champions League clash against Bayern Munich. ”The board is unaware of any resignation by Fabio Capello and we were very surprised by the reports that appeared in the media,” club spokesperson Miguel Angel Arroyo said.

Two more alleged masterminds behind the deadly 2004 Madrid train bombings denied on Friday any involvement in the attacks and followed an accused co-plotter in refusing to address the court directly. Moroccans Youssef Belhadj and Hassan el-Haski both insisted on their innocence.

A Spanish doctor on Tuesday stood by his opinion that Fidel Castro is recovering from stomach surgery despite a newspaper report stating the Cuban leader is in a serious condition after a number of failed operations. Surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who examined Castro in December, has not changed his prognosis that the 80-year-old is slowly recovering after treatment.

Confusion surrounded David Beckham’s Real Madrid future on Wednesday after the player’s spokesperson said an interview with Real’s sporting director Predrag Mijatovic had been misinterpreted. Sky Italia said Mijatovic had told the channel Beckham’s contract would not be renewed and that he would leave.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Saturday suspended dialogue with Basque guerrillas ETA after a bomb wrecked a car park at Madrid’s international airport, breaking a nine-month truce. At least 19 people were injured in the attack and rescuers were still searching for two missing people.

A Spanish doctor who has just examined Fidel Castro said on Tuesday the Cuban leader was recovering and did not have cancer. ”He asks every day to return to work, but doctors advise him not to,” surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido told a news conference in Madrid after returning from Cuba.

Male models being used as ball boys at this week’s end-of-season WTA Championships need to keep their minds on the job and not be distracted by the female players, world number eight Elena Dementieva said on Monday. ”I don’t think they really know what they have to do on the court,” the Russian tennis star told reporters.

For millennia, the Mediterranean has fed its coastal peoples with abundant fish, but now it threatens to become a barren sea. Overfishing is taking a heavy toll on fish stocks, with the numbers of tuna plummeting and anchovy becoming scarce in the western Mediterranean. ”Many species are becoming increasingly rare,” says Alain Bonzon, secretary general of a commission monitoring fishing in the Mediterranean.