Spain's Socialists are open to negotiating deals with rivals

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez smiles during a party meeting at Socialist party headquarters in Madrid, Spain, Monday, April 29, 2019. Spain's political future is no clearer after a third election since 2015, with experts saying Monday that it won't be anytime soon before the muddle is resolved. The incumbent prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, celebrated after his Socialist party won the most votes in Sunday's ballot. But Spanish politicians were doing the math on how Sanchez might survive the next four years without a parliamentary majority. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

MADRID – A senior Socialist official in Spain says her party is ready to negotiate deals with rival parties after it won a general election but failed to obtain a parliamentary majority.

Isabel Celaa, spokeswoman for the Socialist caretaker government, says her party is capable of running the country as a minority government. But she says Tuesday the Socialists "are open to talking to everybody" on certain topics that might smooth the government's work.

She says Spain "needs to build bridges" after a spell of political instability. She says her party "has plenty of experience of deal-making" and is ruling nothing out.

After capturing 123 seats in the 350-seat parliament in Sunday's ballot, the Socialists need to get the support of smaller rival parties to pass legislation.