Eduardo González
The Justice Committee of the Congress will vote on the bill proposed by Sumar, a minority partner in the government, to grant Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born before 1976, when the territory was still under Spanish administration.
On February 25, the plenary session of the Lower House approved the consideration of the bill, which aims to “address the ties of the Sahrawi population to Spain, a necessary step to strengthen the coherence of our legal system.”
The proposal was approved thanks to the votes of Sumar, the PP, PNV, Junts, Podemos, Coalición Canaria, EH-Bildu, ERC, and BNG (a total of 195), with the dissenting votes of the PSOE (116 votes against) and the abstention of Vox (33). If the proposal is finally approved, it is estimated—according to data from the General Directorate of Spaniards Abroad—that around 200,000 people could be eligible for Spanish nationality, in addition to their descendants.
On March 11, the Chamber’s Bureau agreed to entrust its approval “with full legislative competence” to the Justice Committee. It also opened a period of fifteen working days, expiring on April 1, for the Parliamentary Groups to present their amendments.
In the event that amendments to the entire bill are presented, which can only be alternative texts, a debate on the entire bill will be held. If the initiative is approved by the Lower House, it will be sent to the Senate for further parliamentary processing.
The PSOE rejects the legal and technical procedure of Sumar’s proposal, considering that the Polisario Front, a private entity not recognized by Morocco, should not be the one to certify the documentation necessary for nationality. Furthermore, it opposes the process for granting nationality through a letter of naturalization and instead proposes the procedure provided for in a 2016 non-legislative motion that allows Equatorial Guineans, as residents of a former colony, to opt for the abbreviated procedure to apply for Spanish nationality.
These technicalities aside, this is not the first time the Socialists have rejected this initiative. The previous time took place in February 2023, in the midst of the honeymoon between Spain and Morocco following President of the Government Pedro Sánchez’s decision to support Rabat’s proposed autonomy plan for Western Sahara. On that occasion, the Socialists also stood alone in the vote, but the process could not move forward due to the sudden dissolution of the Houses of Parliament due to early elections.
