New parliament's first step eases way for Sánchez to become PM

Spain's lower house of parliament - the Congreso de los Diputados - has given parties on the left control of the key committee that runs parliamentary business and sets the agenda of MPs.

Meeting on Thursday for the first time since July's general election, MPs voted in the Socialist candidate, Francina Armengol, to head the nine-person committee. Armengol won support from pro-independence and nationalist parties, in a sign of which party they might vote for in the upcoming debate on who will be the next prime minister.

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has seen his chances boosted of getting enough support to narrowly scrape into power again after the near stalemate between parties on the left and right in the recent election.

Hard-right Vox refused to support the conservative PP party's candidate to lead the committee after the PP said it wouldn't give a seat on it to Vox.