Spain's outgoing prime minister faced an onslaught of criticism on Monday from his right-wing rivals over Catalonia's secession crisis in a testy four-way debate ahead of elections, while he warned them against cosying up to the far-right.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suffered a first major setback in his bid to stay in office as the Socialists refused Wednesday to back his attempt to form a new government following an inconclusive general election. Rajoy's conservative Popular Party won the most ballots in Sunday's vote but lost its absolute majority in the 350-seat lower house of parliament, taking just 123.