The 15th annual Mediterranean Games came to a close in Almería on Sunday with an excellent performance from the hosts who finished third in the medal table behind France and Italy with their biggest medal haul in the history of the games. The next Mediterranean Games will be hosted by Pescara (Italy) in 2009.

Spain enjoyed a successful final day of the competition with two golds for the waterpolo and football teams to add to Saturday´s double handball golds, and two silvers in the men´s and women´s tennis competition. With beaten football finalistsTurkey taking silver after going down 1-0 to the hosts, the bronze eventually went to outsiders Lybia, who beat Morocco after a penalty shootout competition.

A spectacular firework display, a parachutist landing in the stadium and stirring performances from Miguel Ríos and David Bisbal finally brought proceedings to a climax shortly before midnight.