Spain’s deputy PM hospitalised in intensive care

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, is in intensive care in hospital suffering from a fever caused by a urinary tract infection, an official said Tuesday.

Rubalcaba, 59, had gone to Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon hospital Sunday suffering from a high fever, which he believed was caused by a cold, said a government spokeswoman.

“He was hospitalised due to a persistent fever caused by a urinary tract infection after a prostate biopsy carried out several days earlier,” the spokeswoman said.

He was transferred to intensive care on Monday but by Tuesday, he was “doing better,” she said.

Rubalcaba, who is also the interior minister, is one of the most powerful men in government and is considered a likely successor to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The biopsy had ruled out prostate cancer, an interior ministry statement said.