Spanish PM keeps most ministers in new cabinet

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who was sworn in for another term last week by floating a controversial amnesty deal for separatists, unveiled a new but largely unchanged cabinet on Monday.

Despite having vowed to slim down his cabinet, the 51-year-old kept the number of ministerial posts at 22.

Five went to his junior coalition partner, the hard-left Sumar, which is headed by Yolanda Diaz who will stay on as labor minister.

Sanchez said his cabinet was made up of "people capable of managing but also of reaching agreements and explaining them publicly".

Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero, Defense Minister Margarita Robles and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares are among the heavyweights who are staying on in their posts.

The new faces include two people close to Diaz -- Monica Garcia, a doctor and lawmaker in the regional government of Madrid who takes over as health minister, and Ernest Urtasun, who was appointed culture minister.

A self-declared feminist, Sanchez again appointed more women than men to his cabinet -- 12 this time -- as has been the case since he came to power in 2018.

Sanchez was sworn in Friday after securing the endorsement of a majority of lawmakers in Spain's fragmented parliament to form a minority coalition government with Sumar.

His Socialists finished second in an inconclusive July general election but he reached deals with several smaller parties to back him for another term, including Catalan and Basque separatists.

To win the support of two Catalan separatist parties, he agreed to grant an unpopular amnesty to hundreds of people facing legal action for their role in Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid.

AFP