Spain's minority government strikes deal to pass budget

MADRID – Spain's minority government has cobbled together enough support from opposition parties in Parliament to pass its 2017 budget.

Nueva Canarias, a regional party of Spain's Canary Islands, agreed on Sunday to vote in favor of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's proposed budget.

Nueva Canarias' sole member of Parliament represents the final vote Rajoy' government needs to obtain a majority of 176 votes. Rajoy's ruling conservatives had already struck deals with two other opposition parties.

Nueva Canarias President Roman Rodriguez says his party will vote for the budget in exchange for increased government subsidies for the transport of residents and goods between the Canary Islands and mainland Spain, among other concessions.

The Canary Islands archipelago lies west of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean.