Pedro Sánchez voted back in as Spanish prime minister by Congress

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was voted back in to power by Parliament at the second round of an investiture debate yesterday.

As expected, the leader of the Socialist Party (PSOE) won a simple majority of just two more “yes” than “no” votes.

In the end, 167 MPs voted in favour with 165 against and there were 18 abstentions.

Sánchez will now head the first coalition government since the days of the Second Republic of 1931-1939.

Sources at La Moncloa, the seat of the Spanish government, said that he could be sworn in and appoint his Cabinet as early today.

The new PSOE-Unidas Podemos administration is planning to introduce tax hikes for higher earners and large corporations, and to increase the minimum wage.

But the coalition government falls short of an absolute majority and will require bill-by-bill support in order to get legislation passed.

Sánchez had been trying to form a government since the general election of April 2019, and again after the repeat election in November, which gave him an indecisive victory.

In the meantime, far-right Vox surged to become the third-largest force in parliament, prompting Sánchez and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias to quickly clinch a leftist coalition deal that had previously been rejected by the PSOE leader.