Spanish conservative leader Mariano Rajoy won a parliamentary vote to be prime minister on Saturday, ending 10 months of political gridlock that had left the country without a fully-functioning government.

Rajoy's center-right People's Party is set to form a minority government, after gaining support from the smaller Ciudadanos ("Citizens") party and the tacit backing of many Socialist lawmakers who abstained in the confidence vote.

Rajoy needed to win a simply majority in parliament to cement his return to power. He got 170 "yes" votes while 111 lawmakers voted against him and 68 legislators abstained.