Spain's Socialists rule out grand coalition with conservative rivals

Spain's Socialists said on Monday they would not form a grand coalition with the main opposition People's Party, after Sunday's repeat election yielded a deeply fragmented parliament, complicating efforts to form a stable government in the country. "We're not going to bet on a grand coalition government," senior Socialist official Jose Luis Abalos said in televised remarks.

He added that the Socialists, who won 120 seats in the country's 350-seat parliament, hope to form a government without having to rely on Catalan pro-independence parties.