MADRID — Spain's right-leaning opposition will thrash the ruling Socialists in November 20 elections, polls showed Sunday, as anger over an economic crisis spilled into the streets.

The conservative Popular Party, led by 56-year-old Mariano Rajoy, is set for a record parliamentary majority, surveys said.

The Socialists, whose standard bearer is 60-year-old Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, faced their greatest defeat since Spain returned to democracy after the 1975 death of General Francisco Franco, the polls said.

The price of property in Spain has fallen by an average of 5.6% over the last 12 months, according to the Official House Price Index from the country’s Department of Housing.

Prices fell the most in the Costa Dorada where they were down 9.1% followed by Madrid (down 8.5%) and Murcia (down 8.3%)

Only two regions reported price rises and even these were small - Property in Tenerife saw a price of 1.7%, while house-hunters searching in land-locked Extremadura in western Spain will see a small increase of 1%.

The falling prices come despite increased investment in many of the regions. Murcia, in particular is undergoing extensive regeneration, with a Paramount branded theme park being built, a new international airport being constructed at Corvera and the imminent arrival of the AVE train network extension looking set to boost the area’s economic and tourism prospects.

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It is the shame of Spain. An estimated 300,000 babies — the Niños Robados — were snatched from their mothers at birth and placed with new families.

ZARAGOZA, SPAIN—In November 1974, Luisa Fernanda Marin Valenzuela stood in a doorway at a medical clinic. A male nurse held one arm and a nun held the other. About 36 hours earlier, she had given birth to a baby boy. Far across the room, she could see a tiny baby’s naked body on a table. They told her it was her dead son.

She wanted to get closer, to hold him, to cover his cold skin, perhaps even whisper his chosen name, Antonio. But the nun and nurse refused to let Luisa, who was wracked with grief, move closer to the child. Instead, they led her away.

Spain's two leading contenders for prime minister in the forthcoming general elections have held their only live television debate.

High unemployment and the weak economy dominated the encounter between the governing Socialists' Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and opponent Mariano Rajoy.

Opinion polls suggest the Socialist party (PSOE) is on course for a resounding defeat by the centre-right opposition Popular Party (PP).

War veterans have condemned Fifa for refusing to allow the England team to wear poppies on their shirts when they play Spain at Wembley in a friendly next Saturday.

The Football Association had wanted players to display the Armistice Day emblem on their kit on the eve of Remembrance Sunday, but Fifa rules mean no changes can be made to official kit.

Spain’s opposition leader Mariano Rajoy is poised to gain an absolute majority in parliament as he plans to cut taxes and revamp the banking industry to shield the euro area’s fourth-biggest economy from Europe’s debt crisis.

The People’s Party has a 17 percentage-point lead and would win 46.6 percent support if the Nov. 20 vote were held now, according to the survey conducted by state polling unit CIS from Oct. 6 to Oct. 23. That compared with 29.9 percent for the ruling Socialists led by Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, Madrid-based CIS said in an e-mailed statement today.

Such an outcome would give the PP, which already controls 11 of the 17 semi-autonomous regions, the largest majority of any Spanish government since 1982 in the election. The vote would translate into 190 to 195 seats for the PP, versus 116 to 121 for the Socialists, the CIS said. The Socialists are struggling to retain voters after imposing the deepest austerity measures in at least three decades as a three-year slump has pushed unemployment over 21 percent to a 15-year high.

The poll, which involved 17,236 interviews and had a margin of error of 0.76 percentage point, is in line with other surveys indicating the PP will return to government after eight years in opposition. The party is seen winning in 11 surveys conducted since Sept. 5 with an average 46.2 percent score, versus 31.5 percent for the Socialists.

Better Managers

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero isn’t seeking re-election and his party chose Rubalcaba, the former deputy prime minister and interior minister, as its candidate. Close to 90 percent of the people surveyed by the CIS said the economic situation in Spain is bad or very bad and 62 percent condemned the Socialist government’s policies in the last four years.

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The Provincial Courts in Murcia ordered the companies Trampolin Hills Golf Resort and Solera S.L. Trampolin to pay back 703,000 euros to 20 people who bought homes off-plan.

Contrary to recent coverage in the press indicating that the location for Paramount's new theme park was not necessarily going to be in the region of Murcia, Viacom has announced that the project will be officially presented this week in Madrid.

Santander and CaixaBank yesterday formally declared an interest in the auction of CAM (Caja de Mediterraneo) by the Bank of Spain.

Autumn has officially arrived and there has been a noticable cool-off in temperatures since the very high temperature we experienced throughout the summer months.

Below we have some details on other changes that have taken place across Spain this week.

The Spanish government has cut the rate of VAT (IVA) payable on new build properties by 50%, effective immediately. The rate will reduce from 8% to 4% and will be applied to all new build properties sold until the 31st December 2011.

It's official. August has been hotter and drier than usual on the south-east coast of Spain. The State Meterological Agency released figures this week stating that August was unusually hot and dry throughout the regions of Alicante and Valencia,

CAM have posted huge losses of 1.14 billion Euros for the first half of 2011. A new owner is likely to be announced in October after the Bank of Spain had to step in to save the bank in July.

The Paramount theme park in Murcia has been creating a great deal of interest among the Murcia population. Below you will find details of the various themed areas planned for the park,