Catalan nationalist Artur Mas was Thursday confirmed as the new prime minister of the wealthy north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia, DPA reported.
The regional parliament backed Mas as the successor of Socialist Jose Montilla, who suffered a crushing defeat in regional elections on November 28.
Montilla's defeat was seen as a heavy blow to Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is under fire over his handling of the country's economic crisis.
Mas, 54, was expected to build a minority government. He belongs to the conservative-liberal Catalan nationalist party CiU, which already governed the region of 7.5 million residents from 1980 until 2003.
Catalonia's political trends favour the region's independence from Spain. Mas has said he is not against independence, but feels the time is not yet ripe for it.