British newspaper The Times has published an article by its correspondent in Spain, Graham Keeley, in which he attacks the decision by the Spanish foreign ministry to offer a 12,000€ (£10,500, $14,000) prize for the foreign journalist who writes the most positively about Spain.
In an article entitled Spain won't improve its image by giving journalists money, Keeley describes the award as one which "I and any other self-respecting correspondent would prefer not to win, despite the generous €12,000 prize money".
Keeley suggests that if Spain wants to improve its image, "it would do better explaining its actions in Catalonia".
The Times says that, despite Spain being a "beautiful" country, it also has "mad bureaucracy" and "eccentric traditions".
Translator's note: Some quotes in this article have been back-translated from the Catalan and as such might not match the original word-for-word.