Madrid's top three museums -- the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza -- received a record number of visitors last year as blockbuster exhibits drew crowds despite a weak economy.

The private Thyssen-Bornemisza, which displays works by artists ranging from El Greco to Picasso, posted the biggest rise in visitor numbers of the three museums that make up the Spanish capital's so-called "Golden Triangle of Art".

A rally on global markets stalled Thursday as euphoria over major central banks' coordinated cut to borrowing costs wore off and investors sought confirmation that European leaders will next week deliver a long-term solution to the debt crisis.

Markets had jumped on Wednesday when the central banks of Europe, the U.S., Britain, Canada, Japan and Switzerland made it cheaper for banks to borrow dollars, helping them to operate smoothly at a time of tight credit. China's central bank also acted to release money for lending and shore up growth by lowering bank reserve levels for the first time in three years.

Just as in the Middle Ages, flocks of sheep and herds of cows made their way through Madrid city center on Sunday, marking the centuries-old annual tradition of transhumance, in which cattle migrates from summer to winter pastures.

Thousands of bleating sheep that had left the mountains of the north or the hot plains of the south, found their way through the city streets no differently than they would a rural hamlet.

A Spanish baby boy has died four days after being born in an emergency caesarian when his mother was shot dead by a deranged gunman, a hospital official said Tuesday.

The new-born was delivered by emergency workers just minutes after the gunman shot his 36-year-old mother in a Madrid church, a drama that gripped the Spanish capital.

A gunman walked into a Catholic church and killed a pregnant woman Thursday, then committed suicide, but emergency crews performed a C-section on the woman inside the church and saved the baby, a police official said.

Another woman sitting near the victim was wounded by a stray bullet in the shooting, which occurred just before a Mass at St. Mary's Church in an upper-middle class neighborhood of Madrid, the National Police official said.

European stocks fell and Wall Street rose in cautious trade on Wednesday amid doubts that Eurozone leaders were any closer to resolving the debt crisis before EU-IMF auditors were due to arrive in Athens.

After see-sawing during the session European stocks closed down with London's FTSE-100 index dropping 1.44 percent to 5,217.63 points.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are set to resume their domination in the Spanish league this weekend, as their rivals band together to level the financial playing field against the two giants.

Spain's traditional powerhouses recorded lopsided victories in the opening league round and could very well do so again Saturday as Barcelona is at Real Sociedad and Madrid welcomes Getafe in a Spanish capital derby.

Spain's King Juan Carlos was discharged from a Madrid health clinic Monday after undergoing a successful Achilles tendon operation on his left foot overnight, the palace said.

"The procedure went well and the king has already returned to Zarzuela Palace" on the outskirts of Madrid, a palace spokesman said.

Philippine Catholic priests are appealing to over 100 pilgrims who attended last month's World Youth Day in Spain to come home, fearing they used the festival as a ruse to live abroad illegally.

Pope Benedict XVI brought the event in Madrid to a close on August 21, but fewer than 300 of the 427 Filipino delegates have returned, said Father Noel Osial, head of Manila's Don Bosco Catholic congregation.

European stock markets closed sharply lower on Friday, hit by fresh worries over the Eurozone debt crisis and a much weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies lost 2.34 percent to 5,292.03 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 3.59 percent to 3,148.53 points and in Frankfurt the DAX dropped 3.36 percent to 5,538.33 points.