Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel on the day of the informal meeting of European heads of state or government, in Granada, Spain October 6, 2023.
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's nationalist Basque party PNV said on Friday it has agreed to support acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in his bid to clinch another term in office, a process that has sparked anger and protests from opponents.
The PNV's support, and that of Catalan party Junts confirmed on Thursday, would take Sanchez over the line with an outright majority in the 350-member lower house during the vote due to take place in the coming days.
"We have managed to secure a majority that will make possible the investiture of Pedro Sanchez and, hence, we will have four years of government speaking about was really matters for the people," acting Minister of relationship with parliament Felix Bolanos, said in an interview with SER radio station.
"We have very far apart and different positions but this deal means we are doing our best to understand each other. Spain and Catalonia deserve that."
After an inconclusive election held on July 23, Sanchez's Socialist party spent weeks negotiating with smaller parties including far-left platform Sumar and Catalan and Basque nationalist parties, most of which had supported Sanchez early in 2020 for his previous term.
The more complicated deal was the one secured on Thursday with Catalan separatist group Junts, which includes passing a law granting amnesty to those prosecuted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain.
Sanchez's conservative opponents have accused him of putting the rule of law in Spain on the line for his own political gain.
As a deal between Junts and the Socialists edged nearer in the past week, the mood in the country has become increasingly febrile, with protesters clashing with police outside the Socialists' headquarters in Madrid each evening.
Police fired rubber bullets, 24 people were arrested and seven police officers were lightly injured on Thursday evening, authorities said, as officers tried to break up the demonstration.
(Reporting by Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo and Inti Landauro, editing by Aislinn laing and Toby Chopra)
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