Real-Atlético: The Match That’s Driving Madrid Mad

MADRID—Want to buy a lighter for €4,650 ($6,349)?

You might if you rooted for either of Madrid’s rival soccer teams and knew that three tickets to their most anticipated match ever were being thrown in “for free.”

As Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid prepare to battle Saturday (2 p.m. ET, Fox) for the Champions League title, Europe’s elite club soccer competition, fans are paying some of the highest prices on record for a seat at the game in the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.

Retailers Look to Score in World Cup

It reads like a retail riddle: How can a consumer earn nearly €2,000 by spending €949 on a new television?

The deal is part of a competition that was organized by the Media World chain in Italy last month, tied to a much larger competition: the World Cup. Shoppers who bet on an Italian victory in the soccer tournament could get a 200% discount on their purchase if their home team wins.

Spain Still Suffering Fallout From Housing Bust

MADRID— Xacobo Rodriguez, out of work and with an infant child, says he lives in a constant state of dread. “You always fear the day there will be a knock on the door and then you’ll be evicted from your home,” he says.

Mr. Rodriguez, 38 years old, is one of the many Spaniards who can’t pay pricey mortgages taken out before a property bubble popped in 2008. Worse, his mother, who guaranteed his loan with her own home, is also at risk. “I feel we both might sink,” he says.

Gowex’s Lost Magic Quiets Cheers for CEO Lauded as an Innovator

When Jenaro García’s tech company Let’s Gowex SA won the top prize from Spain’s marketing association in May, the presenter hailed him as an innovator who was making wireless Internet ubiquitous, “a magician who converted Wi-Fi into water.”

Mr. García, outfitted in an Indiana Jones-style jacket, appeared before the appreciative crowd alongside Wi-Fi Man, a masked, caped superhero figure.

Catalonia Fines Airbnb, Threatens to Block Locals From Using Site

MADRID—Tapas, shopping, beaches, the famous Gaudi architecture: Catalonia, and in particular its capital Barcelona, has a lot to entice tourists with. But a chance to live like a local and rent a room through Airbnb may soon no longer be one of them.

Catalonia’s regional government said Tuesday that Airbnb is in “serious” breach of regional law and that it has ordered the company to pay €30,000 ($41,000) in fines within the month or begin adhering to Catalan law.

Spanish Tech Company Gowex’s Shares Fall For Second Day

Stock Drops After Report by Investment Firm Gotham City Research

The stock of Spanish tech company Gowex reeled for a second straight day Wednesday in the wake of a scathing report by a New York investment firm, while the selloff spread to other companies in Spain’s junior stock market.

Gowex’s stock plummeted 26% Wednesday following a 46% decline a day earlier, after investment firm Gotham City Research LLC issued a report on Tuesday alleging that 90% of Gowex’s reported revenues were nonexistent and saying the stock was worthless.

Video Shows Florida Police Arresting a 90-Year-Old Man for Feeding the Homeless

Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida arrested a 90-year-old man last weekend for feeding homeless people — an act of charity he’s been doing regularly for the past 23 years.

At least four police cruisers and a half dozen uniformed cops were waiting for Arnold Abbott and two pastors when they arrived at a local Florida park Sunday afternoon to distribute food to more than 100 homeless and hungry people, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Abbot, the founder of the service organization Love Thy Neighbor, managed to dole out four meals before he was placed in handcuffs and issued a summons.

Video Shows Antares Rocket Exploding Six Seconds After Liftoff in Virginia

An unmanned Antares rocket ferrying supplies to the International Space Station exploded Tuesday just six seconds after liftoff at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops, Virginia. No personnel were near the rocket when it exploded, and no injuries have been reported by NASA.

The Antares rocket appeared to abruptly lose upward momentum after it launched, falling back toward the ground before exploding in mid-air.

The Antares — a medium-lift rocket — was carrying a Cygnus spacecraft packed with about 5,000 pounds of cargo to take to the International Space Station. NASA confirmed at 6:45pm ET that all personnel were accounted for. Officials on NASA TV reported significant property and vehicle damage.

After Latest Blunder, Privacy Watchdog Chief Calls Uber ‘Out of Control’

At a private dinner Friday night, Emil Michael, Uber’s senior vice president of business, suggested that the company should hire a team of journalists and opposition researchers to counter bad press and even attack members of the media that criticize the company.

Michael, who previously worked for Klout, the website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank users according to online social influence, suggested spending “a million dollars” on this team, which would look into “your personal lives, your families.” Michael made the statements in front of a crowd of influential New Yorkers at Manhattan’s Waverly Inn last week.

Michael specifically mentioned that such a plan could be used to spread personal details about the life of Sarah Lacy, the editor-in-chief of PandoDaily, a Silicon Valley website whose coverage of Uber has been far from positive.

A Law Designed to Target Coke Lords Is Screwing Over Legal Pot Companies

Voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to legalize sales of recreational marijuana.

But would-be weed entrepreneurs in the states might be disappointed to learn that a federal tax law designed to target coke lords in the ’80s is eating into the profits of legal pot merchants across the country.

“This is one of the most critical issues facing the industry today because it directly affects the bottom line of anyone who cultivates or sells medical or recreational marijuana,” said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, an association of more than 750 cannabis-related businesses across the United States. “It results in businesses paying effective tax rates of 70 to 85 percent when they should be only paying 30 or 40 percent.