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| Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his 11 new female ministers |
King Felipe VI on Thursday swore in Spain's new pro-EU government, with women holding the majority of ministerial posts.
Socialist
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez named 11 women to top posts including defence and
economy in a cabinet with six male ministers.
That makes
it the European government with the highest ratio of female cabinet ministers,
ahead of Sweden's, which has 12 women and 11 men.
But
Sanchez's administration risks not lasting until the end of the current mandate
in 2020, however, given the fragmented state of Spain's political parties.
His
Socialist Party holds just 84 seats in the 350-seat congress, the smallest
parliamentary presence of any Spanish government since the return to democracy
in the 1970s.
Sanchez,
46, ousted conservative veteran Mariano Rajoy as prime minister last Friday in
a parliamentary no-confidence vote.
The vote
was sparked by corruption convictions against former officials from Rajoy's
Popular Party (PP), which had governed for six years.
Equality
a priority
At
Thursday's ceremony, the ministers broke with tradition by taking their oaths
on the constitution rather than the Bible.
They
followed the example set by Sanchez, who became the first Spanish prime
minister to forego religious symbols during his own swearing-in on Saturday.
The first
minister to take the oath was veteran Socialist Carmen Calvo, a former culture
minister, who became deputy prime minister and will also be in charge of
equality.
Equality is
a priority for Sanchez's government in a country where women staged an
unprecedented strike to defend their rights in March.
Calvo said
her government would work to "build the greatest equality, that between
men and women".
The first
measure the Socialists will propose to congress concerns gender violence
training for judicial officials, the head of the party's parliamentary group,
Adriana Lastra, told reporters.
'An
ordeal'
With its
parliamentary minority, the government will rely on the votes of far-left party
Podemos as well as Basque and Catalan nationalist lawmakers who supported his
confidence motion.
Podemos
leader Pablo Iglesias wished the new government "good luck", adding
during a TV interview that trying to govern with such a small minority
"would probably be an ordeal" for Sanchez.
Podemos is
pushing for greater social spending -- a delicate issue given the European
Union's demands on budgetary discipline.
Sanchez has
said the "main priority" will be to respect Madrid's deficit
reduction commitments to the EU.
Spain has
promised to reduce its deficit to 2.2 percent of GDP in 2018, which would bring
it at last under the three percent limit set by Brussels.
To maintain
"stability," Sanchez has also pledged to implement the 2018 budget
crafted by the previous conservative government which includes pensions hikes
and a salary increase for civil servants.
Sonia
Lopez, a 40-year-old pastry chef, said she was not "expecting
anything" from the new government.
"Before
the government only looked after bosses, this one says it will look after
workers. But if it does, it's because it's already competing for election next
time round," she said as she smoked a cigarette outside the luxury Madrid
hotel where she works.
Pro-EU
government
EU budget
manager Nadia Calvino was sworn-in as economy minister in a move welcomed by
the EU Commission, and former European parliament president Josep Borrell
became foreign minister.
The new
Spanish executive's pro-EU credentials sets it apart from certain other parts
of Europe.
They
contrast with the eurosceptic stance of the populist government about to take
office in Italy and the Brexit process in Britain.
Anti-terror
prosecutor Dolores Delgado became justice minister and former Supreme Court
judge Margarita Robles defence minister.
Other women
have been put in charge of budget, education, employment and health.
The new
interior minister is Fernando Grande-Marlaska, an openly gay former judge at
Spain's top-level National Court.
He has
handled cases against Basque separatist group ETA.
New foreign
minister Borrell, who fiercely opposes the independence movement in his home
region of Catalonia, will be tasked with defending abroad his government's
commitment to Spanish unity.
Meritxell
Batet, another Catalan, has been put in charge of relations with Spain's
regions.
She will
have the prickly task of trying to ease the situation in her own deeply divided
home region.
Sanchez's
new team also includes a minister in charge of science -- Spain's first
astronaut, Pedro Duque.
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