Tokyo, May 17 (EFE).- The Spanish Business Council for Competitiveness, or CEC, brought its "Spain: A Land of Opportunities" report to the Japanese capital on Friday, presenting the Iberian nation as an attractive investment destination and a gateway to the Latin American market. It is easier to do business in Latin America, where Japanese companies are making a big push in areas such as energy, mining and infrastructure, "with the support of large Spanish companies" already well entrenched in that region, CEC executive director Fernando Casado said.

Madrid, May 16 (EFE).- A Spanish judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of Miguel Blesa, former chairman of Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid, for alleged irregularities in the acquisition of the City National Bank of Florida. Blesa was chairman in 2008 when Caja Madrid announced the purchase of 83 percent of City National for $927 million, though he had left the post by the time Caja agreed two years later to buy the remaining 17 percent of the U.S. institution for an additional $190 million.

Brussels, May 14 (EFE).- Spain achieved in March its first monthly trade surplus since records have been kept, the country's economy minister said here Tuesday. At a press conference after the meeting of European Union economy chiefs, Luis de Guindos said that once the calculations are complete, the surplus will come out to more than 600 million euros ($776.5 million). The trade figure is a "sign supporting the improvement of the Spanish foreign sector," he said.

Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke won one of Spain's highest honours, the Prince of Asturias prize for arts, on Thursday. The 71-year-old's latest film "Amour", about a couple trying to come to terms with sickness and old age, won the Oscar for best foreign movie in February after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Haneke beat Cuban choreographer Carlos Acosta Quesada, Serbian artist Marina Abramovic, Estonian composer Arvo Part and US painter Bruce Nauman in the race for the prize worth 50,000 euros ($65,000 dollars).