Spanish telecommunications and media giant Telefonica continues to make news this week in Spain, most recently with speculation that the company is negotiating a stake in US Internet portal Lycos.

Spanish newspapers reported yesterday that Telefonica was in similar negotiations with Latin American web portal StarMedia. Both Lycos and StarMedia compete for clients in the Americas against Telefonica subsidiary Terra Networks. Sources at Telefonica declined to comment on either possibility.

Meanwhile rumours that Telefonica president Juan Villalonga might resign from his post were resolutely denied today by Telefonica. On the contrary, Villalonga seems to have only growth in mind: at a speech given yesterday in Barcelona he said that Telefonica "could launch between 20 and 25 new subsidiaries in the next four years."