Andalusian parliament is sworn in

The new parliament of the Andalucía region met for the first time on Thursday this week at its Seville base. It is the twelfth parliament since regional devolution in 1982 and follows last month's election when the conservative PP party won an overall majority of seats for the first time under leader Juanma Moreno. Only 31 of the 109 regional MPs that sit in the parliament have experience, with the rest new to the job.

President - or Speaker - of the new parliament will be Jesús Aguirre, who is best known to people in Andalucía for his role as regional minister of Health over the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"He is a competent and responsible person, able to empathise and talk with everybody," said acting president of the Andalucía government, Juanma Moreno.

The next stage as Andalucía forms its new government - and following normal procedures - is for Juanma Moreno to be voted in as president of the Junta de Andalucía next week, with the full, new government expected to be operating by 25 July.