Socialist candidate elected speaker of Spain's lower house of parliament

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's lower house of parliament on Thursday elected Socialist Francina Armengol as its speaker with the backing of other parties whose votes will be needed to form a Socialist-led coalition government.

Armengol's candidacy received 178 votes in favour, out of 350 lawmakers, garnering crucial support from the seven lawmakers of pro-Catalan independence party Junts per Catalunya.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Inti Landauro)