Spain's conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo told lawmakers he stood to lose a vote later on Friday in his bid to become prime minister, which would clear the way for acting premier Pedro Sanchez to try and clinch a new term in office.

"Today, I won't be able to give you a government, but I have given you assurance and hope," Feijoo told the lower house before his second investiture attempt, for which he only needs a simple majority to be elected, after losing a first vote on Wednesday.

Sanchez, a Socialist who has governed in a coalition with far-left Podemos since 2020, has said he will launch his own investiture bid to form a new progressive government. For that, he will need to woo several Catalan and Basque parties, some of which advocate for their regions' independence from Madrid.

 

(Reporting by Belén Carreño and Emma Pinedo; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)