BERLIN (Reuters) - The lower house of Germany's parliament resoundingly approved Berlin's contribution to a euro zone-wide aid package for Spain's banking sector on Thursday.

The Bundestag backed the bailout by 473 votes, with 97 votes against and 13 abstentions - far more than the simple majority of the 583 members present that Chancellor Angela Merkel needed.

But Merkel fell short of a symbolically-important "chancellor majority" after 22 lawmakers from her own coalition voted against and one abstained. This was slightly fewer than the 26 coalition lawmakers who opposed the permanent bailout scheme and fiscal pact compact in parliament on June 29.

The outcome of the vote had been largely a foregone conclusion after the main opposition parties had signaled they would back the package.

(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt and Michelle Martin; Edited by Stephen Brown)