Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has dropped broadcasts by two of Iranian state broadcaster IRIB's channels because of EU sanctions against its chief, the Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.

The English- and Spanish-language channels Press TV and Hispan TV were no longer available via Hispasat from Friday because of the sanctions against IRIB head Ezzatollah Zarghami, Mehr said.

The European Commission cleared restructuring plans and aid for four small Spanish banks on Thursday as part of efforts to stabilize the country's stricken banking system and help its economy.

The move completes the state funding part of the restructuring plan, laying the foundation "so that the financial sector is not an obstacle to economic recovery," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

Catalonia's leader Artur Mas signed a political deal Wednesday that will let him rule the northeastern region while seeking a referendum in 2014 on splitting from the rest of Spain.

Mas's conservative Convergence and Union alliance emerged the winner in November 25 elections after promising a referendum on self-determination, despite fierce opposition from Madrid.

Banking giant Santander said on Monday that it will absorb two of its Spanish offshoots, closing 700 branches in the latest stage of Spain's great banking shake-up.

Santander, the biggest bank in the eurozone by market value, said it could save 520 million euros ($680 million) a year by absorbing the offshoots, Banesto and Banif.

Spain announced Thursday it had seized 28 million euros ($37 million) in financial products, luxury cars and buildings linked to ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt requested Spain's help under U.N. anti-corruption conventions to find and block assets owned by Mubarak, his family, top aides and their related companies, a national police statement said.

Catalans rebelling against plans to reform teaching of their language in schools planned street protests Thursday, the latest outpouring of tension between the region and the Spanish government.

Associations organizing the demonstration, planned for 1700 GMT in Barcelona, branded the reform an attack on the Catalan cultural identity, which pre-dates the formation of the modern Spanish state.

Thousands of Spanish medical workers and residents angered by budget cuts and plans to partly privatize the cherished national health service marched through some of Madrid's most famous squares on Sunday.

More than 5,000 people rallied in Puerta del Sol, according to police estimates, after marching from Neptuno and Cibeles squares. Organizers estimated attendance at 25,000 protesters, many dressed in white and blue hospital scrubs. The march, called "a white tide" by organizers, was the third such large-scale protest this year.

Spanish poet and essayist Jose Manuel Caballero Bonald has won the 2012 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert said Thursday the 86-year-old was chosen for the contribution his life-long work has made to enriching Spanish-language literature.

Spain said Thursday it had decided to recognize the opposition Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government also invited the Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib to visit Spain.

Spain pushed forward on Wednesday with a major overhaul of the country's stricken banking sector after Brussels approved EU-funded restructuring plans, and with nationalised Bankia saying it will slash 6,000 jobs and is set for a huge loss.

Meanwhile the Bank of Spain delivered more bad news on the overall economy, saying country appears stuck in a job-killing recession in the fourth quarter.