More than 300 men fell for a Spanish sex scam, paying 124,000 euros ($170,000) in registration fees for the false promise of work as high-class gigolos, police said Tuesday.

A total of 310 men replied to national newspaper job advertisements for a bogus male escort agency, which demanded employment fees in advance, national police said in a statement.

Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal again blasted the International Tennis Federation on Sunday, claiming they were shirking their responsibility to players by failing to lighten a packed tennis calendar.

Nadal led Spain to a 4-1 Davis Cup win over France, and a final date with Argentina, but there were tears for his U.S. Open final slayer Novak Djokovic whose injury-forced retirement saw defending champions Serbia slump 3-2 to the South Americans.

Spain's cash-strapped San Sebastian film festival is struggling to invite big stars and needs up to three million euros ($4 million) more, its new chief said Friday.

Jose Luis Rebordinos, who is running the Spanish-speaking world's oldest and most prestigious film festival for the first time this year, said money was tight.

A thief in Spain who stole a diamond from a British woman -- and then swallowed it -- was caught when police stopped him at a checkpoint and forced him to undergo an X-ray.

The theft occurred when two British women entered a restaurant in the luxury southern resort of Marbella and one of them left her handbag on the floor by her chair, police said in a statement.

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.

pain's ruling Socialists' candidate for prime minister in November elections said Monday that if he wins he will raise taxes on wealthy people and banks and use the extra revenue to create jobs, especially for young people.

Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, interior minister until a few months ago and the party' most veteran and prominent member, gave no details in a radio interview but estimated the tax hikes would bring in €2.5 billion ($3.6 billion).

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.

Tens of thousands of revelers splattered each other with 120 tons of squashed tomatoes Wednesday in a gigantic annual food fight known in Spain as the Tomatina.

The streets ran red with slippery juice as nearly 40,000 people, many stripped to the waist and drunk with sangria, pelted each other in the Plaza Mayor square and nearby streets of Bunol, eastern Spain.

Inflation in the 17 euro countries remained steady at 2.5 percent in August, adding to expectations the European Central Bank will hold off from raising interest rates — and may even consider cutting them — as economic growth slows.

Wednesday's figure is still above the ECB's target of just below 2 percent, but underlines that prices in the eurozone are not rising as quickly as earlier in the year. In June, inflation was 2.7 percent.

UEFA President Michel Platini is warning of "red lights flashing" across Europe because of football's financial problems.

Platini confessed on Friday to fearing for the future of professional football because of clubs going bankrupt and running up debts, and players going on strike in Spain and Italy.