Barcelona, Oct 24 (IANS/EFE): Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe has been admitted to the intensive care unit of Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital after suffering a mild stroke, authorities at the medical centre told EFE.

Caballe, 79, is showing favourable progress, fully conscious and able to speak with her doctors and family members, the authorities said.

The singer suffered a slight stroke last week in Russia that caused her to faint and in the process broke a bone in her arm, after which she was flown to Barcelona.

Caballe has had to cancel several of her upcoming professional engagements, including the performance she had scheduled for this Wednesday.

This was not the first time in recent years that the soprano has had to suspend performances because of her health, as occurred in July 2010.

Despite such setbacks, Caballe has never left the theater and in January celebrated in Barcelona's Liceo her 50th year on that stage, where Jan 7, 1962, she made her debut in the opera "Arabella" by Richard Strauss.

This year she has performed in a number of theaters around the world, and in an interview last spring said that she was booked solid until 2016.