Spain's Congreso fills with new faces on first day at work

2016-03-23 07:00:00

The Spanish parliament’s lower house, Congreso, came back to life on Wednesday as the new members took their seats for the first time. The first job for the ‘diputados’ was to elect the president of the house (speaker), who for the first time ever will not be a member of the party that occupies the most seats. An agreement between PP, PSOE and Ciudadanos led to the election of Socialist Patxi López, while Celia Villalobos (PP) keeps her job as deputy.
The scene on Wednesday was a colourful one with more new members than ever. Podemos representative Carolina Bescansa went along with her six-month-old baby so she didn’t have to stop breastfeeding, a move that sparked praise and criticism.
Meanwhile all eyes are on Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez who said last week that he would attempt to form a left-wing government. Others, however, call for a “grand pact” between the two main parties, PP and PSOE, in the light of the Catalan situation.source surinenglish