Spanish minister resigns after report he was found to have avoided tax

Spain's Culture Minister Maxim Huerta receives the ministerial briefcase from outgoing minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo at the Culture Ministry in Madrid, Spain June 7, 2018. REUTERS/Paul Hanna

Thomson Reuters

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Culture Minister Maxim Huerta resigned on Wednesday from a week-old government, following local media reports he avoided taxes while he was working as a TV journalist a decade ago.

Huerta, who was named to the cabinet by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last week, told a news conference in Madrid he was "absolutely innocent" and had paid a fine to the tax ministry related to the period 2006-2008 after a change in their criteria.

(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

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