UPDATE 1-Spain foreign minister gives up MEP seat with eye on EU top job

Spain's acting foreign minister Josep Borrell gave up his newly won European Parliament seat on Wednesday to remain in the Socialist administration at home and stay in the running for a senior job in the EU executive.

Wednesday was the deadline for members of the European Parliament to choose between their EU mandates and other posts. "The current political circumstances both in Spain and in Europe have led the prime minister and me to think that it was not very reasonable that the foreign minister's post would remain vacant for an undefined period of time," Borrell told reporters in Brussels.

Socialist leader and acting premier Pedro Sanchez is trying to garner enough support from other parties to get re-elected by parliament after winning a national election in April but failing to secure a majority of seats. Sanchez will next Tuesday set a date for a parliamentary vote on whether he can stay on in the role, a Socialist party source said on Wednesday, triggering a two-month countdown that could potentially lead to another election.

Sanchez has made it clear he wants Spain to have a stronger voice on the European stage and Borrell, 72, has been floated by party sources as a potential candidate to lead the bloc's common foreign service or become a deputy head of the European Commission. Fellow Socialist EU leaders tasked Sanchez in May to lead their camp in intense EU horse-trading to pick five names for the top EU positions.

Giving up his seat as an EU lawmaker means Borrell cannot be European Parliament president, one of the jobs up for grabs and a position he held in 2004-2007. The other roles are the presidents of the executive European Commission, the European Council - which represents member states - and the European Central Bank; and EU foreign policy chief.

There are other possible Spanish runners such as acting economy minister Nadia Calvino, environment minister Teresa Ribera and agriculture minister Luis Planas.