King entrusts PSOE's Sánchez to try to form a government after Feijóo fails

King Felipe has officially given acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez the opportunity to try to form a government. The move was widely expected after the Partido Popular's Alberto Feijóo, the leader with most seats in parliament after July's general election, failed to get majority support from MPs last week.

Sánchez, with the second largest number of MPs for his PSOE party, now has up to 27 November to reach a majority of 178 MPs' support by doing deals with other parties.

All eyes are on the votes of Catalan separatist parties, especially Junts. That party's leader, Carles Puigdemont, is wanted for the illegal 2017 independence referendum. This week the separatists have been saying an amnesty for those offences is not enough and that Sánchez will need to promise an official independence referendum too to win their support.