Spain gets new socialist leader

Spain’s socialist opposition leader is set to become the country’s new prime minister after sponsoring a no-confidence vote that ousted Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government. Pedro Sanchez, the Socialist Party’s 46-year-old leader, managed a historic feat: unseating a serving leader for the first time in Spain’s four decades of democracy. Unlike the populist parties roiling Italian politics, Sanchez supports the European Union and the eurozone’s shared currency. Rajoy led Spain for six years. His downfall began last week when a court ruled his Popular Party had taken large kickbacks in exchange for government contracts. Sanchez will have to cobble together a coalition government with help from other smaller parties, which could prove difficult.