Rafael Nadal described reaching the final of the Madrid Masters as a "dream" after he stormed into his seventh consecutive final since returning from a seven-month injury layoff with 6-0, 6-4 win over compatriot Pablo Andujar.

"To be able to return to a final here at home, in Madrid is a dream," he said.

Spanish police said Thursday they busted a network of Moroccan and Chinese nationals who laundered hundreds of thousands of euros a week in drug money.

Officers arrested two Chinese nationals, one suspect from Hong Kong and three Moroccans in raids at locations including a major Chinese trading estate near Madrid, a police statement said.

Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum opens Friday a major retrospective of works by Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali which explores how his experiments with painting, cinema and advertising have influenced art.

The exhibition features more than 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, writings and television and film clips from the 1920s to the 1980s, including 30 works never before shown in Spain.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to demand the abdication of Spain's scandal-hit monarchy.

Waving thousands of red, gold and purple republican flags, the crowd chanted: "Tomorrow, Spain will be republican".

The Madrid stock exchange jumped more than 3 percent on Wednesday, with the Ibex 35 flying past the symbolic 8,000 point milestone, following a strong Wall Street opening.

The Ibex 35 index increased 3.32 percent to 8,133.5 points at 1625 GMT, after closing up 1.1 percent to 7,872.5 points on Tuesday.

An exhibition of 50 paintings by hyperrealist artists whose works depict shop windows, camper vans, street views and other everyday scenes in such painstaking detail that they resemble photographs opens Friday in Madrid.

The "Hyperrealism 1967-2012" show at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum explores the evolution of the style from its beginnings in the late 1960s in the United States to its most recent incarnations in Europe.

Madrid mayor Ana Botella hailed the first day of the International Olympic Committee's Evaluation Commission's four-day inspection of the city's candidacy for the 2020 Olympic Games a success.

After an introduction from Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, the committee had the opportunity to visit four of the proposed sites, including Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told IOC inspectors Monday that much of the infrastructure needed for Madrid's 2020 Olympic bid is already built, emphasizing a low-cost approach at a time of financial austerity.

Rajoy welcomed the IOC's evaluation commission at the start of its four-day inspection of Madrid, which is competing against Tokyo and Istanbul.

Thousands of students and teachers marched in Madrid on Thursday protesting crisis budget cuts and layoffs in schools and universities.

"Our education will not pay your debt!" read a banner at the front of the march heading down one of Madrid's main avenues towards the education ministry, to the din of horns and whistles.

The head of the Spanish Olympic Committee Alejandro Blanco has claimed Madrid's candidacy to host the 2020 Olympic Games presents the most realistic option.

The bid is the Spanish capital's third consecutive try for the games after failed bids for the 2012 and 2016 games, however Blanco believes that previous planning could count in their favor this time round as much of the infrastructure required has already been installed.