The entrance of the Spanish team, led by flag-bearing basketball star, Pau Gasol, at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics last night, attracted over seven million viewers - the highest ever Olympic TV audience in for TVE in Spain.

The Barcelona Olympics in 1992 attracted a peak viewing figure of 6,865,000 Spaniards, but that figure was surpassed last night when the Spanish team entered London's Olympic arena.

The opening ceremony of the London Olympics was watched by an average of 5,655,000 viewers and 13,544,000 watched at least some part of the event, according to a press statement from Spain's national TV and radio company, RTVE.

The golden minute for the TV station saw 7,132,000 viewers (57.9% of the viewing public) watch the Spanish athletes parade into the Olympic stadium at almost 1am this morning.

The opening ceremony as a whole, choreographed by British film director Danny Boyle and featuring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, David Beckham piloting a speedboat along the Thames with the Olympic torch on board, and a film of the Queen being accompanied to the games by 007 actor, Daniel Craig, amongst other celebrities, attracted an average of 46.1% of the viewing public in Spain.