There was an air of hopeful anticipation on the streets of Madrid on Saturday morning, as residents looked ahead to the naming of the host city for the 2020 Olympic games.

Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee President, was due to announce the winning bid on Saturday evening in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at 1730 local time - equivalent to 2230 local time in Madrid (2030 GMT).

Madrid was up against bids from Tokyo and Istanbul.

If Madrid is selected, works on the Olympic Stadium for Madrid 2020, which is also set to be the future stadium of local football club Atletico Madrid, are set to accelerate.

In the meantime on Saturday, preparations were underway for a large public event at La Puerta de Alcala, a monument in the centre of the Spanish capital, to accompany the announcement from Buenos Aires.

Picking the city with the least risks shapes up as the challenge for the IOC.

Tokyo has been seen as a slight favourite to win the 2020 games, but its status has been put into question by concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant.

Madrid, once counted out because of Spain's financial troubles, has generated the most recent buzz and momentum and could be poised for an upset win.

Istanbul, dogged by the war in neighbouring Syria and possible Western military strikes against Bashar Assad's regime, looks like the outsider.

London bookmakers have been taking a rush of bets on Madrid, whose odds have been slashed from 4-1 a week ago to 5-4.

Tokyo remains the betting favourite, though its odds have shortened to 5-6. Istanbul is listed at 6-1.

Madrid resident Charo Garcia confessed that she could not anticipate the outcome of the contest.

"The people of the International Olympic Committee are very weird, so I don't know. Maybe we have had too much excitement, but I think it's our time," she said.

Raquel Meren, a teacher from Venezuela was hopeful Madrid would be victorious, saying: "I like this city and this country and I think they deserve it."

But local resident Cesar Calvo sounded a note of caution, commenting: "I hope Madrid wins, but we have to wait because this costs money."

Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo were all set to make 45-minute presentations in Buenos Aires on Saturday morning ahead of the vote later in the day by the International Olympic Committee.

The prime ministers of all three countries were set to lead the delegations.

Shinzo Abe of Japan, Mariano Rajoy of Spain and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey all flew to Buenos Aires straight from the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1. Wide of Olympic Stadium "La Peineta" under construction

2. Close of Metro Station "Estadio Olimpico"

3. Various of Olympic Stadium "La Peineta" under construction

4. Wide of Madrid's Puerta de Alcala and workers preparing for evening Olympic event

5. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Charo Garcia, 62, local resident:

"I don't know who will win. The people of the International Olympic Committee are very weird, so I don't know. Maybe we have had too much excitement, but I think it's our time."

6. Various of workers preparing for evening Olympic event

7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Raquel Meren, 40, teacher from Venezuela:

"I would like Spain to be host of the Olympics, because my parents are Spanish and I have the roots, and because I like this city and this country and I think they deserve it."

8. Various of workers preparing for evening Olympic event

9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Cesar Calvo, 76, local resident:

"I want Madrid to win, and I hope Madrid wins, but we have to wait because this costs money. Imagine that in the end we don't win. I hope we win, but ..."

10. Mid of workers preparing for evening Olympic event

11. Men running past event venue

SHOTLIST

1. Wide exterior of reception for Olympic Candidate Cities presentation

2. Pan of interior; Madrid Olympic bid logo

3. Wide of naming ceremony

4. Close up Madrid City logo

5. Cutaway photographers

6. Wide guests applauding and cheering news that Madrid had been elected

7. Close up woman clapping

8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ernesto Perez Lobo, Sports Coordinator 2016 Madrid Olympic bid

"I am confident in our project, I am confident of our city. We have a popular support that no other bid has. What we have to do know is work and put the finishing touches to make sure the bid is well done. We need to get ourselves known outside of Spain."

9. Various of Deputy Mayor Manuel Cobos having photograph taken in front of Madrid Olympic Logo

10. Wide of park

11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Local resident, Vox pop:

"We have it all pretty much prepared. As we had it almost ready for the 2012 bid. I think we have an opportunity."

12. Man jogging

13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Local resident, Vox pop:

"Seeing as we didn't win for the 2012 we should win this time."

14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Local resident, Vox pop:

"I think we'll win but I don't really care if it doesn't."

15. Women in park

16. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Local resident, Vox pop:

"I would like Madrid to be the Olympic City in 2016."

17. Wide of park, women with prams

STORYLINE

Four cities were picked as finalists on Wednesday for the 2016 Olympics and Spain's capital Madrid was one of them.

The city's mayorship organised an event in the Cecilio Rodr�guez gardens of the Retiro Park to receive the news broadcasted from Athens.

"I am confident in our project, I am confident of our city. We have a popular support that no other bid has. What we have to do know is work and put the finishing touches to make sure the bid is well done. We need to get ourselves known outside of Spain," Ernesto Perez Lobo, Sports Coordinator 2016 Madrid Olympic bid said.

Other cities making the IOC shortlist were Chicago, US; Tokyo, Japan; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Eliminated from the race were Doha, Qatar; Prague, Czech Republic; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

The final field was selected by the International Olympic Committee executive board.

The big four - Chicago, Madrid, Spain and Tokyo - had all been virtually assured of advancing to the final stage.

Madrid citizens enjoying the warm weather in the Retiro park expressed their delight at Madrid's election.

"I would like Madrid to be the Olympic City in 2016," one woman told AP Television.

"We have it all pretty much prepared. As we had it almost ready for the 2012 bid. I think we have an opportunity," said another.

"Seeing as we didn't win for the 2012 we should win this time," said one man.

The finalists now advance to a 16-month race that will culminate on October 2, 2009, with a secret ballot by the full IOC at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The evaluation report, which assessed sports venues, government support, security and other matters, put Tokyo in front, followed closely by Madrid.

In a surprise, Chicago and Doha were tied for third, with Rio fifth. Prague and Baku were sixth and seventh.

The early ranking is not crucial. When the IOC picked the finalists for the 2012 Olympics in 2004, London was ranked third behind first-place Paris and Madrid in the technical report.

London went on to win the games in 2005.

The 2016 race shapes up as a tight battle between strong candidates from the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Chicago is a contender to take the games back to the US for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Madrid is back again after a third-place finish in the vote for the 2012 Olympics, which went to London.

Cities that made the cut will have to submit their detailed bid files to the IOC by February 12, 2009.

After that, a panel of IOC experts will visit each of the cities, tour the proposed sites and meet with bid and government leaders.

The panel will release an evaluation report to the IOC members a month before the October 2009 vote.

The 2016 cutoff was the centrepiece of a three-day IOC board meeting in Athens, the last before the committee gathers in Beijing on the eve of the August 8-24 Olympics.

Rafael Nadal named 'adopted son' by city of Madrid

SCRIPTING INFORMATION:

Tennis world number one Rafael Nadal was made an adopted son of Madrid in a ceremony in the Spanish capital on Monday (May 5).

The honour was bestowed on the Majorca-born Nadal by Madrid mayor Ana Botella at the Palacio de Cibeles (Madrid Town Hall).

This week Nadal will begin the defence of his Madrid Open title.

He is coming off back-to-back quarterfinal exits at clay court events he once dominated in Barcelona and Monte Carlo.

Madrid, Spain - 5th May 2014

1. 00.00 Various of Palacio de Cibeles (Madrid Town Hall) and Madrid mayor Ana Botella and Rafa Nadal approaching the media.

2. 00.19 Various of Botella and Nadal posing for media to the two of them walking forward.

3. 00.34 Back view of Botella and Nadal walking into building

4. 00.39 Botella and Nadal walking into assembly room

5. 00.44 Wide of assembly room

6. 00.48 M/s of Botella and Nadal sitting down

7. 00.54 Wide of ceremony

8. 00.59 SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Ana Botella, Madrid mayor

"Rafa, you have the admiration and the permanent fondness of this city, and we want to show you it by designating you Adoptive Son of Madrid. If you accept, many thanks!"

9. 01.17 Medium of Ana Botella presenting Nadal with the medal of Adoptive Son of Madrid.

10. 01.28 SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Rafael Nadal

"To be named Adoptive Son of Madrid is a responsibility. It is a very important recognition, and because of this I would like to commit to Madrid and to be always at your disposal. I would like to thank for naming me to a place besides other people that are part of history in capital letters. For me is a great honour to be beside figures such as the great musician Pablo Sorozabal or the Nobel Prizes winners Camilo Jose Cela and Mario Vargas Llosa."

11. 01.56 Wide of Nadal and Ana Botella entering the Palacio de Cibeles hall

12. 02.07 Set up shot media.

13. 02.10 Close up of Nadal.

14. 02.16 Wide of Rafa Nadal and Ana Botella in the Palacio de Cibeles hall

Ten hours into a tense plenary session, Catalan lawmakers are still holding a heated debate on a controversial bill that lays the groundwork for an October 1 referendum on independence from Spain.

The parliament chair on Wednesday rejected complaints by opposition parties about alleged procedural flaws.

Spain's central authorities in Madrid have already asked the country's constitutional court to punish members of the regional parliament for allowing the vote, and have vowed to strike down the "referendum law" for the northeastern region as soon as it's passed. That is expected later Wednesday.

On the streets of Madrid people seemed to think Wednesday's developments would be futile - with many saying they don't think Catalonia will get independence, while others said if there was a referendum all Spaniards should get to vote.

The political crisis comes after years of defiance by pro-independence supporters in Catalonia and amid criticism of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government in Madrid for letting the situation come to this.

Madrid - 6 September 2017

1. Wide of people and cars in Colon square in Madrid

2. Cutaway of Spanish flag

3. Various of people in the streets of Madrid

4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Emilio, retired:

"What's going on in Catalonia is a disaster that should had been stopped long time ago. A solution? I just see one: the force of the law or any other kind of force. If not, these people (pro-independence) won't turn back. Everybody knew about this long time ago."

5. Wide of a news stand in Colon square

6. Cutaway of a banner (French) "Spain"

7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rocio Arcos, Economic analyst:

"I think nothing is going to happen. The Basque Country has tried to get the independence for many years but they have not gotten anything except for economical issues. I do not think Catalonia (will get independence)."

8. Various screen shots of Spanish newspaper websites

9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jeronimo Garrett, consultant:

"If they wanted (a referendum) to be real they should ask the whole of Spain and not just a part of it. Every Spaniard must be asked about Catalonia's independence. If you just ask to a part of the population it has not legal support."

10. Various of people in the street

11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Angeles, social worker:

"With just one word, I think it's superfluous. There are so many positive, creative things to do for humanity. Please, let's put the attention on really necessary and important issues."

12. Cutaway of Madrid tourist bus banner (Spanish) "Madrid city tour. Historical Madrid"

13. Various of people and cars in Madrid streets

Madrid citizens enjoying the city's Christmas fair in the centrally located Plaza Mayor were cautious about the possible results of Thursday's regional elections in Catalonia.

Juan Carlos, a teacher, said that he was sure the pro-independence parties would do well and that the Spanish government should have reacted earlier to the independence challenge.

However Carlos Mayan, a businessman from Madrid, hoped for a pro-Spanish coaltion.

The Catalan elections were called after the Madrid central government took over the running of the Catalan region after its parliament called for unilateral independence from Spain.

Madrid - 21 December 2017

1. Wide of Plaza Mayor in central Madrid

2. Various of Christmas fair in square

3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan Carlos, 46, teacher from Madrid:

"I think that the independence parties are going to win and with more votes. I think that all that has happened has made the independence parties win more; after the use of Article 155 and all the government has done. And it should have done everything a lot earlier because all this started along time ago. So I think all this has given more strength to the independence movement and they are going to end up winning."

4. Robotic figures for Christmas nativity scene

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Mayans, 57, businessman from Madrid:

"I hope that we get a coalition of pro-Spanish constitution parties that works and is really democratic and not pro-independence. That is my hope."

6. Christmas hats on sale

7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Arantza, 57, cleaner from Madrid:

"I think that the pro-independence parties are going to get a huge quantity of votes but I don't think that they are going to win. What I think is that logically the economic situation and the movement of businesses that have left Catalonia will make people think twice."

8. Mistletoe and Christmas wreaths

Crowds gathered on Sunday in central Madrid to mark the fifth anniversary of a protest movement that led to the creation of Podemos, now Spain's third most-popular political party.

The Democracy Now platform has urged protesters to "occupy squares" in world cities to protest austerity, corruption and a lack of transparency in government.

Madrid's Puerta del Sol square became the scene of a protest that lasted 28 days in 2011, sparking a movement that spread to other Spanish cities and similar "Occupy" movement sit-ins across the world.

The protest by those calling themselves "Indignados", or people angered by Spain's existing political parties, led to the emergence of Podemos, which will vie for power in a 26 June election.

Crowds gathered on Sunday in central Madrid to mark the fifth anniversary of a protest movement that led to the creation of Podemos, now Spain's third most-popular political party.

The Democracy Now platform has urged protesters to "occupy squares" in world cities to protest austerity, corruption and a lack of transparency in government.

Madrid's Puerta del Sol square became the scene of a protest that lasted 28 days in 2011, sparking a movement that spread to other Spanish cities and similar "Occupy" movement sit-ins across the world.

The protest by those calling themselves "Indignados", or people angered by Spain's existing political parties, led to the emergence of Podemos, which will vie for power in a 26 June election.

Madrid - 15 May 2016

1. Various top shots of protest

2. Various of protesters playing drums

3. Various of protesters marching city centre

4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pablo Soto, Councillor for Participation and Transparency at Madrid City Council; former programmer and activist:

"When there was an assembly to talk about a topic I was interested in, I joined and took part in it. This is what was new about the 15 May Movement (against austerity), many people in small groups talking about politics, talking about how to build a better and different country, and about how to solve our common problems on our own."

5. Soto in wheelchair

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pablo Soto, Councillor for Participation and Transparency at Madrid City Council; former programmer and activist:

"How is it to get into politics after taking part in the 'indignados' movement (against austerity)? I always answer the same: I haven't got into politics now; I entered politics on the night of May 15th, 2011, when I decided to go to the streets, camp with other people together, and say no to a political situation that was completely unsustainable."

7. Protesters holding a banner in favour of public health service

8. Protester holding a sign

9. Protesters throwing an effigy of corrupt politician up in the air

10. Effigy

11. Protesters chanting (Spanish) "From east to west the fight goes on, whatever it takes"

12. Protesters chanting (Spanish) "Tomorrow, Spain will be a Republican country"

13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ana Garcia, leader of the National Students' Union:

"The May 15 movement ignited the rage of millions of people that said 'no' to paying the bill of a crisis for which they were not responsible, that we were not going to pay with our education, our health care and our rights for a bunch of capitalists who live lavishly, and the most important lesson is not only to realise what's happening but also know how to solve problems, and the only way to achieve our goals is to fight in the streets."

14. Various of protesters holding banners and signs

15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Moran, Peruvian who has lived in Spain for 22 years, joined anti-eviction movement since being evicted from home in 2011:

"I wish we can get all the things for which we fought and I wish as well that the people who were part of these social movements and will get into the government and rule the country meet the expectations and change things for the common good."

16. Moran

17. Various of protesters marching and holding signs

18. Protester playing violin

19. Various top shots of protest

Privately hired cars were attacked in Madrid on Thursday during a protest by taxi drivers over the regulations of online taxi services such as Cabify and Uber.

Police were at the scene to try and disperse angry taxi drivers who were throwing eggs and stones at the VTC vehicles.

The protest march came during a 24 hour stoppage by 30 percent of taxi unions and associations which left Madrid empty of working taxis.

Spanish taxi drivers complain that an agreement that there would only be one VTC vehicle to every 30 taxis has not been honoured.

Madrid - 27 July 2017

1. Protesters throwing eggs and other items at private taxis during a strike in Madrid

2. Police with batons running to try and push back protesters

3. Various of protesters chanting

4. Car with smashed windscreen

5. Protesters chanting

6. Various of taxi drivers on strike, driving their vehicles slowly

7 .Close of protest sign reading (Spanish) "Taxi drivers demand that the law is observed. No more VTC." (VTC is a transport service using a car with a driver - usually available through platforms Uber or Cabify)

8. Wide of protesters walking down a main road led by a taxi

9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) David Gutierrez, Madrid taxi driver:

"Right now, there is one VTC to every 6 taxis. There are no rules. Here in Madrid there are a lot of them (VTC). A lot of the time in Madrid, taxis are not earning. At night, taxis are not making money. Instead of seeing the green lights of taxis, you see stickers - VTC stickers (on cars). You see them more than taxis. It is a real shame."

10. Various of protesters marching through the city

Protesters staged a rally on Saturday in Madrid as Spanish lawmakers voted to approve acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's bid to form a new minority government.

They marched in central Madrid, voicing their dissatisfaction with the conservative government of Rajoy.

Rajoy, leader of the conservative Popular Party, won a second term as prime minister on Saturday with a 170-111 vote and 68 abstentions.

Rajoy needed a majority in the 350-seat Parliament during a first confidence vote on Thursday but was rejected.

Madrid - 29 October 2016

1. Various of police at demonstration

2. Various of demonstrators

3. Wide of Congress building

4. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of far-left Podemos, and others walking

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pablo Iglesias, the leader of far-left Podemos:

"I believe PM Mariano Rajoy represents the epilogue of something which is old and which is slowly dying."

6. Convoy driving past

7. Various of demonstration

8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Maria Alonso, 60-year-old, train worker from Madrid:

"As a worker and a person of this country, we are against the government that has governed until now and that looks like to govern us for four more years."

9. Various of demonstration

10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Marina Arevalo, 19-year-old, student from Madrid:

"I think it is an illegitimate government because it didn't even get 30 percent of the votes, and therefore doesn't represent the citizens, which is what a government should do. And I thinks there's a lot of disinformation and, in my opinion, all this has been rigged."

11. Various of demonstration

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party came last in Catalonia's regional elections, winning just three seats in what was a major blow to the country's governing party.

Carles Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia snared 34 seats in the 135-seat regional assembly, making it the most popular separatist party.

Two other pro-independence parties made up the dominant bloc: the left-wing republican ERC party, which collected 32 seats, and the radical, anti-capitalist CUP, which has four seats.

In Madrid on Friday, there were mixed reactions to the results of the regional elections.

One woman said she would rather see Catalonia remain a part of Spain, but she understood the strength of the independence movement.

Rajoy called the snap election after Catalan separatists declared independence in October following a referendum deemed illegal by Spanish authorities.

Rajoy also fired the Catalan government that Puigdemont ran and dissolved its parliament.

He has ruled out independence for the wealthy northeastern Spanish region, saying it is unconstitutional.

Madrid - 22 December 2017

1. Wide of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy surrounded by heads of Peoples Party (PP) during meeting after regional elections in Catalonia

2. Mid of Rajoy

3. Close of Rajoy

4. Rajoy seated next to the Spanish Minister of Defence and Secretary General of PP Maria Dolores de Cospedal

5. Pan right from wide of PP leaders to mid of the leader of PP in Catalonia and candidate for being President of Catalonia Xavier Garcia-Albiol (in striped tie)

6. Close of Garcia-Albiol

7. Mid of PP leaders, Spanish vice-president Soraya Saenz de Santamaria is in the centre next to Spanish tax office minister Cristobal Montoro

8. Cutaway of PP logo

9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Nuria Ruiz, traffic controller:

"(This election) takes us nowhere, because the winning party cannot govern, because the two independent parties will join (together for governing), so we are in the same position. I would like justice to be done: equal votes to seats. So, the party that wins (the elections), the one who gets more votes, should always be the one who governs."

10. Wide of people walking early in the morning next to a news stand

11. Pan left from La Razon newspaper front page to El Mundo newspaper front page including ABC and El Pais

12. Cutaway of a graphic that shows how Catalan Parliament seats will be divided between the different parties

13. Close of El Pais and ABC newspapers front page

14. Pan left from a graphic that shows the number of votes to a graphic that shows how Catalan Parliament seats will be divided

15. Tilt down of Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia front page

16. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Concha Parra, cleaner:

"My sons lives in Catalonia, in Tarragona. They are pro-independence. I do understand it. I am even happy for them because the independence movement has won. It's a feeling. But, but I would rather Catalonia stays with Spain. Everything will be better together. Until now everything has gone well."

17. Wide of Madrid streets in front of Santiago Bernabeu stadium

18. Cutaway of Real Madrid logo and stadium name

19. Mid of Madrid's Palacio de Congresos front designed by Catalan artist Joan Miro in 1980

20. Wide of people walking in the streets

21. Mid of people entering and exiting subway station

22. People walking

23. People crossing the road

24. Wide of Madrid skyline

Spanish police on Monday cleared away taxis that blocked a main avenue in the capital of Madrid, the latest action in a week-long standoff with authorities over the growth of app-based ride-hailing services that cab drivers say threaten their livelihood.

Taxi drivers in the capital moved their protest over the weekend from the outskirts to Castellana Avenue, in Madrid's central north-south axis.

Traffic was at a standstill during the morning commute, until police unblocked the main thoroughfare.

The drivers want the regional government in Madrid to impose tighter regulations for rides hailed through apps like Uber and Cabify.

They demand similar steps like those announced for Barcelona, where local authorities can now modify regulations to require app-based rides to be hired up to one hour in advance.

Uber and Cabify have reacted by threatening to drop their operations in Spain's second-largest city, where they say 3,500 jobs would be at risk.

Self-employed drivers working for the two platforms also occupied parts of Barcelona's main thoroughfares on Monday to urge the regional Catalan government to halt the new regulations.

Madrid - 28 January 2019

1. Various of riot police at taxi drivers' protest

2. Wide of a taxi driver atop a vehicle yelling to protesters

3. Mid of riot police walking toward protesters

4. Wide of a fire in a drum

5. Various of riot police and protesters

6. Various of protesters outside the PP (People's Party) Madrid regional government headquarters

People on the streets of Madrid on Tuesday reacted to news that ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont had decided to stay in Belgium for the time being, hours after a Spanish judge withdrew international arrest warrants for him and four members of his former cabinet who have been fighting extradition to Spain.

One woman called Puigdemont "a coward" and said Spain's legal system offered him enough judicial guarantees.

Another woman said he was "on holidays in Brussels" and was "laughing at everyone".

A Supreme Court spokesman said that the five could still be arrested if they go back to Spain, however, because they are still being sought for possible crimes related to the independence bid in northeastern Catalonia.

In a surprise move, Supreme Court magistrate Pablo Llarena said on Tuesday that individual warrants don't apply anymore because the alleged crimes were a group action according to new evidence.

The five Catalans are being investigated for rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, among other crimes, punishable with decades in prison in Spain. European and international arrest warrants were issued on November 3.

Puigdemont is leading his party's campaign for the December 21 election called by Spain's government in an attempt to find a democratic fix to the nation's worst institutional crisis in nearly four decades.

Madrid - 5 December 2017

1. Wide of Cibeles square while Madrid's red tourist bus pass by city hall building

2. Close of Cibeles statue surrounded by Spanish flags

3. Wide of local police cars and policeman ordering the traffic while Puerta de Alcala stands at the end

4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Carmen, 55 years old, unemployed:

"I believe that they are leaving this man (Puigdemont) free to do whatever he wants. After committing crimes as he pleased, after breaking the law as he pleased, now he goes to Brussels practically on holidays. He is laughing at everyone and now they take away the arrest warrants. He can come and continue preparing to become (Catalonia's) President. It's absurd and a mockery to all Spaniards."

5. Various of people walking in the street

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Beatriz, no last name given, 57 years-old, civil servant:

"I do not agree. I think it's a taunt, because I think that in Spain we have judges and judicial guarantees for judging him here. I reckon he (Puigdemont) really has some nerve. He is a coward."

8. Wide of cars passing by Spain's Bank building

9. Close of subway station banner reading (Spanish) "Bank of Spain"

10. Wide of people walking next to the subway entrance

11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javien Molina, 32 years old, economist:

"Regarding the withdrawal of the arrest warrants for Puigdemont, it firstly did not sound good to me, but then after they explained that they have withdrawn arrest warrants because if Belgium execute the arrest of Puigdemont - for some legal mechanism that I am not aware of - they (Belgium justice) could lower the accusation or they could even remove the accused status from him. And that's (precisely) what Spanish justice wants to avoid."

12. Cutaway of digital newspaper that reads in Spanish "Spanish judge withdraws arrest warrants for Puigdemont and the former councillors. Llanera (Spanish judge) wants to avoid Belgian justice to limit the crimes they could be judged for."

12. Cutaway of digital newspaper that reads in Spanish "Spanish judge withdraws arrest warrants for Puigdemont and the former councillors."

13. Cutaway of digital newspaper that reads in Spanish (Spanish) judge Llanera withdraws the European arrest warrants for Puigdemont and the former councillors"

14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Gabilondo, 51 years-old, economist:

"I think the campaign (for elections in Catalonia) is very defined. There are (people) on one side and there are (people) on the other. It's very polarised. So, I think this does not have much impact on it."

15. Close up of Spanish flag in Colon square in Madrid

16. Mid of people walking in Madrid street

Security measures have been increased throughout the Spanish capital in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Madrid saw increased police officers at key embassies and transport points including Atocha train station which saw its own extremist attack in 2004.

Security measures have been increased throughout the Spanish capital in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Madrid saw increased police officers at key embassies and transport points including Atocha train station which saw its own extremist attack in 2004.

AP TELEVISION

Madrid - 17 November 2015

1. Various of police outside Madrid airport

2. People just landed in Madrid's airport

3. Various of flights arrivals' screen

4. Woman looking at flights arrivals' screen

5. People standing with their luggage

6. Suitcases

7. Various exteriors of Atocha train station

8. Interior of Atocha train station

9. Zoom out from banner reading "Luggage control", to travellers putting luggage through security scanner

10. Various of train travellers putting luggage in scanner

11. Police officer holding a machine gun while guarding the US Embassy

12. US Embassy logo

13. Police officers and vehicles outside US Embassy

14. Police officer's gun

15. Two police vans in front of US embassy

16. Various of Guardia Civil car in front of French embassy

17. French embassy logo and a picture of an eye coloured in blue, white and red crying

18. People looking at memorial for the victims in Paris

19. Police car in front of Puerta de Alcala

Senior members of Spain's government held a minute's silence in Madrid on Monday for the victims of the attacks in Paris.

Local residents also went to the French embassy to place candles, flowers and written messages of support for France.

Senior members of Spain's government held a minute's silence in Madrid on Monday for the victims of the attacks in Paris.

Local residents also went to the French embassy to place candles, flowers and written messages of support for France.

AP TELEVISION

Madrid - 16 November 2015

1. Wide of Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria surrounded by Chilean ambassador to Spain Francisco Marambio and Spanish government officials outside Moncloa Palace

2. Saenz de Santamaria surrounded by Marambio (on her left), the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Madrid, Krishna R. Urs (on her right shoulder) and workers of Spanish Foreign Affairs ministry, Spanish Interior Ministry and the Spanish National Intelligence Centre (CNI)

3. Tilt of Soraya Saenz de Santamaria and Marambio

4. Cutaway of media

5. Tilt from officials outside Moncloa Palace to Spanish flag at half mast

6. Wide of Madrid's city hall and Cibeles fountain with French and Spanish flags at half mast

7. Cibeles fountain with French and Spanish flags at half mast

8. Close of French flag at half mast

9. Woman putting a rose on French embassy's main door while a Guardia Civil agent passes by

10. Guardia Civil agent helping the woman to put the rose on French embassy's main door

11. Tilt down from banner reading (French): "French embassy" to various messages of support for France

12. Man removing hat while looking at flowers

13. Various of flowers and tributes

14. Sign reading (French): "France is great. Spain loves you. Together we will defeat terrorism."

15. Woman leaving a letter written by her daughter, and then she cries out (Spanish) "Long live France. Long live Spain"

16. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Cristina Garcia, vox pop:

"Times have changed. And (my daughter) she asked me: 'Mum, why are there wars?' And I answered 'There should be no wars, my daughter. We have to find ways to avoid wars.' And she asked me 'How do we do it mummy?' and I said, 'We have to be good people, my daughter'."

17. Various of candles and tributes and people paying their respects

STORYLINE:

Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living.

The miners, angry about huge cuts in subsidies, arrived in the Spanish capital with their hard hat lights glowing.

They planned to march along major avenues to the Puerta del Sol, the city's most emblematic square.

One group of about 160 walked all the way from the northern Asturias and Leon regions, as many as 400 kilometres (250 miles) away; about 40 made an almost equally long trek from Aragon in the northeast.

Their complaints include a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies struggling to maintain a share of the Spanish energy market against gas-fired electrical plants and renewable energy sources, while fighting to hold their own against cheaper imported coal.

Coal miners make an average of 1,200 euros (1,470 US dollars) a month, according to The General Union of Workers (UGT).

Today there are 8,000-9,000 coal miners in Spain, whereas 20 years ago there were nearly 30,000 in Asturias alone.

Besides cuts in subsidies to the coal companies themselves, the new conservative government has enacted austerity-minded cuts in spending for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children in the generally poor mining regions where they live.

The protesting miners were impressed with the welcome they received in Madrid on Tuesday night.

"They may say that Madrid is a right-wing city, but I don't think so. This is a working class city, a true city," said Toni.

"We've had the same reception in every village we've arrived in during the whole march. It's so good," he continued.

A much bigger rally of miners and their supporters travelling to Madrid aboard hundreds of chartered buses is scheduled for Wednesday.

Before setting out for Madrid, miners clashed with Spanish police in Leon.

Miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police, barricading a highway and a rail line in the northern town of Cinera on 19 June.

At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat.

1. High pan across crowd in Moncloa Square, waiting to greet miners

2. Wide of miners arriving, helmet lights on

3. Various of miners walking through crowds, waving flags

4. Mid of miners walking through street

5. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

6. Mid of miners chanting

7. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

8. Close-up of miners walking through street

9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Toni, last name not given, miner taking part in march:

"This is impressive, look at this amount of people. They may say that Madrid is a right-wing city, but I don't think so. This is a working class city, a true city. We are very impressed. We've had the same reception in every village we've arrived in during the whole march. It's so good."

10. Mid of miners singing

11. High shot of miners among crowd

The actions of the Spanish police in dealing with Catalonia's disputed independence referendum made the front pages of news media outlets around the world on Monday.

In an editorial, leading Spanish daily El Pais blamed the Catalan government for Sunday's "shameful" events but also criticised the Spanish government for its inability to tackle the crisis since it began about seven years ago. The newspaper said the day was "a defeat for our country."

People in Madrid on Monday were split on the subject with some saying the central government had had no choice but to take action, while others called their actions disproportionate.

Catalonia's government will hold a closed-door Cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the next steps in its plan to declare independence from Spain following the disputed referendum.

Regional officials say the vote, which Spain insists was illegal and invalid, shows that a majority favour secession.

The referendum debacle brought both Spain and Catalonia closer to a potentially disastrous showdown as each side said Sunday's events proved them right and neither looked prepared to cede ground.

Madrid - 2 October, 2017

1. Tilt down from wide of Sol Square to newsstands

2. Newsstand

3. The Daily Telegraph front-page headline reading (English) "EU crisis over Catalan poll violence" and the Financial Times front-page headline reading (English) "Hundreds hurt as police storm polling booths in Catalan vote"

4. Spanish newspapers

5. El Pais newspaper front-page headline reading (Spanish) "Spanish government uses force in order to avoid the illegal independence vote"

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Jesus Martinez, 49 year-old, tourism worker:

"I do not like police baton charges. I think the (Spanish) government has managed the situation the best they could, the best they knew. But the saddest is that any other party or leader in the same situation would have done the same. I do not reckon that any other opposition leader - not even the Catalan regional government - would have done something different if they would face a problem like this in which somebody does not abide the law."

7. Pan of Spanish newspapers

8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Lidia Angel, 26 year-old, social worker:

"It's a shame what happened yesterday. Police baton charges were disproportionate. I reckon they could have avoided it with dialogue. The (Spanish) government did not want to talk. The unity that I saw in Catalonia was beautiful. It's a shame. It's a political problem that has turned into a social problem."

9. Tilt down on Spanish newspapers

10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Jose Ignacio Garcia, 24 year-old, worker at the Consultant college in Madrid:

"It's very strange. If they are still part of Spain I do not understand that they are the only ones who will vote. I think if they want to vote they can, but then the rest of us should vote too. Because, if they want to vote about being part of Spain, I would also like to vote about if I want them to remain part of Spain or not."

11. Various of commuters at Callao underground

12. Cutaway of Madrid city banner

13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Juan Leon, civil servant:

"I do not know what will happen in the future. I think democracy and political stability will triumph. But it's been many years that the Catalan regional government has not respected the law and since nothing has happened the problem got bigger. I think it's not a good sign to break a state by not executing the law. For example, if the country breaks up but lawfully then it's ok. It happened in Czechoslovakia. They did it in a legal way. But I don't like what happened yesterday. Anyhow, I think it's difficult to find a solution."

14. Various of commuters

SHOTLIST

1. Various of security outside the Spanish high court compound in Plaza del Campo on the outskirts of Madrid

2. Group of people taking outside court

3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mr. Gutierrez (no first name given), Relative of victim of Madrid bombings:

"I feel very deceived. There are many things undiscovered and the principal culprits are free."

4. Police outside court

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Relative of victim of Madrid bombings, No Name Given:

"I'm disillusioned in our justice system. Our justice system is very soft."

6. Media waiting outside court

STORYLINE

Relatives of victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings reacted with disillusionment on Wednesday after three lead defendants were convicted of murder and other charges on Wednesday.

Another accused ringleader was acquitted in the culmination of a politically divisive trial over Europe's worst Islamic terror attack.

There was tight security outside the Spanish high court compound in Plaza del Campo on the outskirts of Madrid as Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez read out the verdicts.

The backpack bomb attacks killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 on March 11, 2004.

The three lead suspects were each handed sentences that stretched into the thousands of years.

They include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan convicted of placing at least one bomb on one of the trains, Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard who is a former miner found guilty of supplying the explosives used in the attacks, and Osman Gnaoui, a Moroccan accused of being a right-hand man of the plot's operational chief.

But Rabei Osman, an Egyptian accused of helping orchestrate the attacks, was acquitted.

Mr. Gutierrez, whose daughter was killed and wife seriously injured in the attacks, was far from satisfied with the verdicts.

"I feel very deceived. There are many things undiscovered and the principal culprits are free," Gutierrez said.

A relative of another victim accused the Spanish justice system of being "very soft".

Osman, who is currently in jail in Italy, had allegedly bragged in a wiretapped phone conversation that the massacre was his idea.

Four other accused masterminds, Youssef Belhadj, Hassan el Haski, Abdulmajid Bouchar and Rafa Zouhier, were acquitted of murder but convicted of lesser charges including belonging to a terrorist organisation.

They received sentences between 12 and 18 years.

Six lesser suspects were also acquitted on all charges.

Fourteen other people were found guilty of lesser charges like belonging to a terrorist group, bringing the total number convicted to 21 of the 28 defendants.

Spain says it will deploy unprecedented security measures for Saturday's "high risk" Champions League final in Madrid.

The police operation prepared for the final between Liverpool and Tottenham will be the biggest ever for a sporting event in the Spanish capital.

More than 4,700 security personnel will be involved, and for the first time drones will be used to monitor fan activity.

More than 30,000 English fans are expected to watch the final at the 68,000-capacity Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

SHOTLIST: Madrid, Spain. 28th May 2019.

1. 00:00 Members of Spanish security services at coordination meeting before UEFA Champions League final

2. 00:06Maria Paz Garcia, Spanish government delegate in Madrid, talks at press conference

3. 00:17 SOUNDBITE (Spanish): Maria Paz Garcia, Spanish government delegate:

"This match between Tottenham and Liverpool has been declared high risk and this, along with the level four anti-terrorism alert and the security measures applied, means we need to establish a big security operation limited not just to the city of Madrid but to the whole nation."

4. 00:45Cutaway camera

5. 00:47 Press conference ends

Pro and anti-Castro demonstrators in Madrid on Saturday expressed their joy and sadness at the passing of the former Cuban leader.

A small crowd, both pro- and anti-Castro, met in front of the Cuban embassy, in a rain-soaked Spanish capital.

Spanish public television showed people waving Cuban flags and flags of the former Soviet Union.

Police kept a close watch as some members of the pro- and anti-Castro camps exchanged insults.

Madrid - 26 November 2016

1. Various pro-Castro demonstration outside Cuban embassy

2. Wide anti-Castro demonstrator complains to police he has been punched, pro-Castro demonstrators jeering

3. Castro protesters outside embassy

4. Wide anti-Castro demonstrator taken away by police

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Madrid resident (no name given):

"We, the working class of Spain, have met here outside the doors of the Cuban embassy in Madrid in solidarity and to remember a giant of all the peoples of the world - Fidel Castro Ruz. These others are not dissidents, they are criminals who just come here to cause trouble."

6. Various pro-Castro protesters, black ribbon on Cuban flag

STORYLINE:

Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living.

The miners, angry about huge cuts in subsidies, arrived in the Spanish capital with their hard hat lights glowing.

They planned to march along major avenues to the Puerta del Sol, the city's most emblematic square.

One group of about 160 walked all the way from the northern Asturias and Leon regions, as many as 400 kilometres (250 miles) away; about 40 made an almost equally long trek from Aragon in the northeast.

Their complaints include a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies struggling to maintain a share of the Spanish energy market against gas-fired electrical plants and renewable energy sources, while fighting to hold their own against cheaper imported coal.

Coal miners make an average of 1,200 euros (1,470 US dollars) a month, according to The General Union of Workers (UGT).

Today there are 8,000-9,000 coal miners in Spain, whereas 20 years ago there were nearly 30,000 in Asturias alone.

Besides cuts in subsidies to the coal companies themselves, the new conservative government has enacted austerity-minded cuts in spending for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children in the generally poor mining regions where they live.

A much bigger rally of miners and their supporters travelling to Madrid aboard hundreds of chartered buses is scheduled for Wednesday.

Before setting out for Madrid, miners clashed with Spanish police in Leon.

Miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police, barricading a highway and a rail line in the northern town of Cinera on 19 June.

At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat.

HEADLINE: Marching coal miners arrive in Madrid

CAPTION: Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living (11 July 2012).

VOICE-OVER: This video contains only natural sound. There is no voice-over narration.

1. Wide of miners arriving, helmet lights on

2. Various of miners walking through crowds, waving flags

3. Mid of miners walking through street

4. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

5. Mid of miners chanting

6. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

7. High shot of miners among crowd

Thousands of people marched on Saturday in Madrid to support Catalan politicians and activists who are on trial for their attempts to secede from Spain in October 2017.

The nine defendants face decades in prison on rebellion and other charges for staging a banned referendum and pushing ahead with an independence declaration deemed unconstitutional.

Large pro-independence protests have filled the streets of Spain's northeastern region and some European cities, but Saturday's was the first major separatist march in the Spanish capital.

Organisers said 120,000 people attended, well beyond the 50,000 they had expected to travel to Madrid mostly by bus.

Police put the number around 18,000 and said that no incidents were reported.

Many separatists in Catalonia believe the defendants in the ongoing Supreme Court trial, which is about to enter its fifth week, are "political prisoners" who are being tried for their ideas.

Speaking to reporters at the protest, Catalan President Quim Torra described the trial as "fake" and said supporters would not stop until the accused were released.

Spain authorities have said the judicial process is fair and that courts are fully independent from the government.

The issue of Catalan independence versus Spanish unity is a major one in the run up to the country's General Election on April 28, but a sentence is not expected until after the vote.

Madrid - 16 March 2019

1. Catalan independence supporters protesting in Madrid's Cibeles Square

2. Floating banner reading (Spanish) "Let's do the Catalan Republic"

3. Various of protesters marching with banners and signs

4. Anti-independence protester brandishing Spanish flag

5. Scuffles between protesters

6. Protester confronting man holding Spanish flag

7. Various of Catalan President Quim Torra at protest

8. Torra speaking to media

9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Quim Torra, Catalan President:

"We are here for them (the Catalan leaders on trial), for their freedom, to denounce this fake trial and to accuse the government of this injustice, we will not stop until their release, (and) until our right to self-determination (of Catalonia) is respected and executed."

10. Protesters standing behind banner reading (Spanish) "Self-determination is not a crime, democracy is to decide"

11. Banner reading (English) "Freedom. Political prisoners"

12. Protesters standing underneath Catalan flag

13. Sign with picture of ex-Catalan President Carles Puigdemont

14. Protester holding banner reading (English) "Fake justice"

15. Banner with the pictures of the Catalan leaders on trial

16. Banner reading (Spanish) "Independence"

17. Protesters waving flag of Catalonia, reading (English) "Self-determination is a right, not a crime"

18. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gemma Capmany, 26, protester and English teacher:

"We want our prisoners to come back free to Catalonia without being judged because what they did is to allow people to vote and to have the right to decide what they want in their country. We want independence and we have the right to have it."

19. Protesters marching with flags and banners

20. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Buenaventura Ruiz, 53, protester and health biologist:

"Self-determination is not a crime and therefore we believe these people do not have to be in jail and face any trial. The political issues should be sorted with politics not with trials."

21. Protesters marching

22. Protesters chanting

23. Protesters carrying letters to spell out the word "freedom" in Spanish

24. Protesters holding hands with music playing

25. Women lying down and taking a picture on a huge Catalan flag