Spain's economy is faring a little better after an end-2012 slump and growth could even return by the end of the year, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Tuesday as doubts grew over the prospects for debt-laden southern European economies.

The Spanish economy had "clearly" improved from the final three months of 2012, when output plunged by 0.8 percent, De Guindos told an economic forum.

Spanish economist and author Jose Luis Sampedro, one of the ideologues behind Spain's "indignant" protest movement against economic inequality and corruption, has died, his family said Tuesday.

Sampedro, who advocated a more humane economics based on ideas of solidarity, passed away overnight on Sunday and his remains were cremated on Tuesday morning, his widow Olga Lucas said.

Spain announced Friday it is raising the minimum age for marriage from 14 to 16 while opening consultations to increase the age for consent to sex, which now lies at just 13, so as to combat child abuse.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's right-leaning government announced its decision to raise the minimum ages for marriage and sex in Spain, which are now among the lowest in the world, after a weekly cabinet meeting.

A Hong Kong auction offering the chance to dine with world-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria, known for his revolutionary "molecular cuisine", has fetched a winning bid of over $28,000, Sotheby's said Thursday.

The "vigorous" bidding war started with an offer of HK$40,000 ($5,000) and ended with a winning bid of HK$220,500 ($28,269) when the hammer fell in the southern Chinese city Wednesday, according to the auction house.

Spain's royal palace said it was "surprised" by a judge's decision to name King Juan Carlos' daughter Princess Cristina as a suspect in a corruption case Wednesday, a move which dealt a huge blow to the prestige of the monarchy.

While the royal place has the "maximum respect" for the decision, it "wants to express its surprise for the change in position" by the investigating judge who in March 2012 declined to name the princess as a suspect in the case, a spokesman for the royal palace told Agence France Presse.

Spain's recession-hit economy will return to growth and begin creating jobs again in 2014 if the government keeps up its tough austerity reforms, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Wednesday.

"In 2014, if we are able to maintain the same level of effort, the Spanish economy will grow markedly and begin to create jobs," he said during a meeting of top officials from his center-right Popular Party.

A Spanish judge named King Juan Carlos's daughter Princess Cristina as a suspect in a corruption case on Wednesday, dealing a spectacular blow to the prestige of the royal family.

It is first time a member of the Spanish royal family has been called to appear in a court of law on suspicion of wrongdoing.

Spanish government figures show that the number of people registered as unemployed edged down by a little under 5,000 in March, the first reduction for the month in five years.

The Labor Ministry said Tuesday that the decline showed the government's policies are working. The scale of the task remains huge though as the number registered as unemployed stands at 5.04 million.

Spanish King Juan Carlos's youngest daughter, Princess Cristina, is in the front line of a legal storm engulfing her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who is under investigation for allegedly embezzling millions of euros in public money.

The 47-year-old has not been named as a suspect in the corruption probe opened at the end of 2011 by a judge on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. But the graft allegations facing her husband have cast a growing shadow of suspicion over her role in the affair.

Spanish media published extracts Wednesday of documents which indicate the king's youngest daughter was aware of dodgy deals carried out by her husband, who is being probed for embezzlement.

Inaki Urdangarin, who is married to Princess Cristina, and former partner Diego Torres are suspected of siphoning off millions of euros paid by regional governments to the Noos Institute.