2015–16 Spanish government formation

Spanish parliament approved Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez as prime minister, according to BTA news agency.

Sánchez's nomination received 167 votes in favour of the 350-member Congress. 165 members of the lower house of parliament voted against and 18 abstained.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has welcomed election results in Spain where the governing Socialists won the country's third election in four years.

MADRID (Reuters) - Socialist Pedro Sanchez took over as Spain's prime minister on Friday, after outgoing leader Mariano Rajoy lost a parliamentary confidence vote triggered by a long-running corruption trial involving members of his center-right party.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was threatened with no-confidence motions and demands for a snap election on May 25 over a graft trial involving members of his party in which a judge cast doubt on his testimony.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Nov. 11 he wanted to return to a “democratic and free” Catalonia as he aimed to rally support for a unified Spain on his first visit to the turbulent region since it declared independence.

The Spanish government has agreed with the opposition Socialists (PSOE) to hold regional elections in January in Catalonia as part of the extraordinary package of measures to temporarily impose direct rule on the region, Socialist politician Carmen Calvo said in an interview on national television on Friday, cited by Reutrers. 

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria made a brief statement in which he announced that Mariano Rajoy had summoned an extraordinary cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Catalonia, said The Spain Report quoted by Focus.

The meeting will be held at 9:00 am local time on Wednesday.

The Spanish government will not allow the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan authorities to become a reality, in an interview with the El País newspaper Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He pointed out that Madrid may use the constitution if the separation is announced, BNR reported.

he European Commission called on Spain to open dialogue with Catalonia on Monday, saying violence was no solution but also calling for unity and backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's leadership in what was an "internal matter".

Parliament in Spain's prosperous Catalonia region has approved an independence vote for October 1, which Madrid has vowed to stop.

Separatist parties, which hold a slim majority, backed the referendum legislation and legal framework needed to set up an independent state.