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Spain’s vice president says "debate on the utility of the monarchy is growing bigger with every new scandal"

Juan Carlos I left for the UAE in early August amid a string of corruption allegations while under investigation by Supreme Court

Royal House confirms whereabouts of Juan Carlos two weeks after leaving Spain amid criticism

Controversial start to festival’s 26th edition as riggers union still on strike

Five weekly flights between the two capitals to be extended to seven from April

Juan Goytisolo (born 1931 in Barcelona) is the latest winner of the Cervantes Prize, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize for literature in Spanish. On Monday at noon, the jury’s verdict was read by Spain’s Minister for Culture, José Ignacio Wert, and it emphasised the author’s "ability to delve into language", his "complex stylistic proposals" and "his desire to bring together" different cultures. Goytisolo, who currently resides in Marrakech (Morocco), will receive the award at a ceremony to be held on April 23 in Alcalá de Henares, in Madrid's region. The Cervantes Prize is awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and is worth €125,000. Goytisolo's works have been translated into English, French, German, Polish, Slovak and Romanian, among others.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has travelled to Israel heading a delegation including businesspeople as well as the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, and the Catalan Minister for the Economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, among others. On Tuesday Mas met Shimon Peres, President of Israel, and on Monday the Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, who is also the Chairman of Yesh Atid (the second-largest party in the Knesset) and ‘number 2’ in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government. With Peres, Mas talked about a federal European Union and Catalonia’s process of building its own state. With Lapid, who is a clearly emerging figure in Israel’s political landscape, Mas talked strictly about economic matters. The Catalan delegation also signed several agreements regarding scientific research and visited the Holocaust Memorial as well as the Wailing Wall.

Palestinian and Israeli children, some disabled, enjoyed a day they’ll never forget in front of a packed Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium with FC Barcelona. The second and final clinic in the Holy Land for the so-called ‘Peace Tour’ – before the Catalan team heads for Asia – was followed by a somewhat more intense training session than in Dura, in the West Bank. During Sunday evening’s clinic in Tel Aviv, Leo Messi was accompanied by Mohamad, a 17-year-old from Palestine, and Assael, a 19-year-old from Israel.

More than 24,000 people welcomed Barça to Dura, in Palestine, where the Catalan team held the first clinic on the ‘Peace Tour’. Located close to Hebron, the Dura Stadium was packed to welcome FC Barcelona’s full first team and coaching staff, who everyone in this country is used to seeing on television. The players, who were received by a banner in Catalan, trained with a group of 40 Palestinian boys and girls.

Lmrabet was sent to jail in 2003 for writing about Morocco’s king and his supposed real estate interests. He was also banned from media. Finally he has created ‘Demain’, an online newspaper directed from Barcelona. It has the same name as the publication he had in Morocco, which was shut down by King Mohammed VI’s regime.

Mowafak Kanfach asks for the Syrian regime to be taken to the International Criminal Court. He is living in Barcelona because he was forced to leave his country because of political reasons.

Demonstrators carried signs that said “Free Egypt” or “Up with Egypt, down with Mubarak”. All their claims demanded the President’s immediate resignation.

The Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs claims: “They cannot accuse us of occupying Jewish land”. Both leaders met at a round table discussion in Barcelona on the occasion of Sant’Egidio ecumenical meeting.