MADRID (AP) — A Socialist party official in Spain says European Parliament ex-president Josep Borrell will become foreign minister in the new government.
Jose Luis Abalos, the party’s organizational secretary, on Tuesday confirmed a handful of names in Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Cabinet, which replaces the conservative government that fell last week after a corruption scandal.
The choice of Borrell, a 71-year-old Catalan, was criticized by separatists in Catalonia and praised by pro-Spain lawmakers in the politically divided region. Borrell has been outspoken against Catalan independence.
Abalos told broadcaster TVE that party official Carmen Calvo would serve as deputy premier and head of the resurrected Equality Ministry, in a nod to Spain’s feminist movement. He said Maria Jesus Montero would become finance minister.
Abalos would serve as development minister, according to his office.