Spain’s king asks Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez to try to form a government

By CIARÁN GILES
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s King Felipe VI has asked Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday to try to form a new coalition government. The president of Spain’s Congress of Deputies announced the decision after the king finished two days of talks to determine which party had the best chance of securing support in parliament. Sánchez’s Socialist party finished second behind the conservative Popular Party in Spain’s July election, but Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo failed to win sufficient parliamentary support. Sánchez has been Spain’s prime minister for the past five years. He said Tuesday that he would consult all parties except the extreme-right Vox as he seeks to put together a governing majority.