MADRID, Spain: Spain’s law allowing descendants of Spaniards to obtain citizenship has sparked a strong political debate, with right-wing opposition leaders accusing the government of trying to influence next year’s elections by adding new voters.
So far, at least 544,722 people have received citizenship under the law passed in 2022. Of these, 306,000 have registered to vote, according to government data. Around 650,000 applications are still waiting to be processed.
This week, right-wing politicians accused the Socialist government, without proof, of interfering with applications from countries where people are less likely to support them. They also claimed the government is registering new voters in key areas to win a few extra seats. Early this week, the far-right party Vox called for all mail-in votes from abroad to be stopped.
These claims are similar to past statements made by Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and U.S. President Donald Trump about election systems being rigged. The debate comes as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faces pressure to call early elections before August 2027 due to political deadlock and corruption scandals involving people close to him.
Opinion polls show the conservative People’s Party (PP) is likely to win the most votes, but it will need Vox’s support to form a government. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said that since Sánchez cannot win with current voters, he may try to “create” new ones.
The Spanish government rejected these accusations, calling them “deeply irresponsible.” It said it does not control where new citizens choose to register to vote. The application deadline closed last October.
The government also said the opposition is wrongly linking this law with a separate three-month amnesty program. This program gives legal residency to undocumented migrants but does not give them citizenship or voting rights. Vox had claimed this was another attempt to change election results.
The “Democratic Memory” law builds on a 2007 law that gave citizenship to the grandchildren of about half a million people who left Spain during the 1936–39 civil war and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, as well as their first-generation descendants living abroad.
In 2022, Sanchez’s government expanded the law. It now includes adult children of those who got citizenship under the 2007 law, descendants of people persecuted for their beliefs or sexuality, and women who lost their citizenship after marrying foreigners during Franco’s rule.
Other European countries also offer citizenship to descendants of people who left their homeland. Countries like Italy, Ireland, Poland, and Hungary allow grandchildren to apply, even without a political background.
Only nine percent of Spain’s 2.3 million citizens living abroad voted in the 2023 election, according to official data. While overseas votes have sometimes favored the Socialists in regional elections this year, the party has lost significant support within Spain.
