Spain lawmakers don earphones as regional languages make debut in lower house

Spain's far-right party Vox members leave their translation ear pieces on the empty seat of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after a lawmaker spoke in Galician on the first day that simultaneous translation was provided in Spain's parliament in Madrid, Spain, September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Susana Vera

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's lower house of parliament allowed the use of regional languages for the first time on Tuesday as part of a deal to elect a Socialist speaker and amid vocal protests from conservative lawmakers.

Legislators used earphones to listen to live translations into Spanish of speeches in Catalan, Basque and Galician as they debated amending house rules to allow their use in proceedings, which had previously been banned in the lower house but partially admitted in the Senate.