Spain's year: Football glory, economic gloom

2012 has been a terrible year for Spain, a country so deeply beset by economic problems that it is barely possible to switch on the television or strike up a conversation without hearing the dreaded word "crisis".

Unemployment has hit record levels, banks are failing, increasingly angry protest marches have become commonplace, devastating cuts to public services are being universally imposed and a full-blown bail-out from the European Union remains a distinct possibility.

In the midst of all the doom and gloom, though, there has been one significant consolation for many people in this sports-mad nation: football.

Read more: BBC News - Spain's year: Football glory, economic gloom